Driving in fog

[SpookySingingDoll]

Today I drove longish distance in fog for the first time and I'm not sure if I got it right. I have only been driving for a year and I am an older person (51) so although I am competent I don't have years of experience compared to other people my age. So I would be grateful for any input on how you tackle longish drives in fog.

I drove a short distance in fog a couple of times last year and hated it : I was frightened because I couldn't see and I drove really slowly.

When I set off today it gradually got foggier during my journey but I mostly kept at the speed limit and didn't go much slower. Mostly flat dual carriageway and single lane a road with some hills but I know them both fairly well now, traffic patchy or very light. What I found was contrary to my instinct to crawl along I felt safer going at proper speed and keeping up with cars in front of me. Was this foolhardy?

The other question is about something specific - at one point on the dual carriageway I went round a corner and saw the car in front of me was going extremely slow, there were cars in both lanes, I indicated to overtake and put my hazards on as I was having to brake, a car on the right behind flashed me in so I could overtake, as I passed the very slow car I saw his door window was broken and taped up which is why he was going slow. Was that okay to do do you think?

The more I think about it the more I am unsure about this second, specific, question.

Not sure exactly what hat your question is, but your behaviour sounds broadly fine.

Sounds like you did to me - it's often easier when visibility is bad to go faster and keep up with the car in front as you are able to see the direction of the road by following their lights. So long as they don't veer off into a ditch of course! Depending on how bad the fog was always worth thinking to switch your fog lights on so you are more visible from behind. These do make it harder to see brake lights though so remember to turn off when out of the foggy patch.

As far as the person without a window, I imagine they were going slow as it's cold and gets very breezy if you drive with your windows open.

Sorry that should have said "sounds like you did fine to me"

We drove home in mist and fog today. Took about two and half hours. As long as you 1. had lights on, fog lights if visibility was <150m, and 2. were keeping your distance from cars in front you'll have been fine.

I drove 2 miles today in this terrible fog and it was genuinely the worst conditions I've ever driven in. So if you got home safely I think you've done ok.

The speed you and other drivers felt comfortable to drive at would very much relate to the visibility. Last night I drove in light fog, I could see lights far onto the distance so I didn't need to slow down too much but made sure I was really observant of any sudden changes in visibility. It's useful if there are other cars in the distance because because by keeping an eye on their lights you can spot the fog getting thicker and also gauge visibility.

I've driven in fog so thick on a motorway carriage way that I've barely been able to see the white lines on the road, luckily it was shortlived but that really did involve hazard lights crawling along and hoping no one hit me from behind.

Nothing wrong with overtaking a slower vehicle if safe to do so. It's sensible to increase the distance between you and other cars in fog...so more than normal.

Driving at the speed limit in fog is only fine if you have the safe distance between you and the car in front (two-second gap: at 70mph, this is about 100m.) If the fog is so thick that you cannot tell whether there is a car ahead of you or not, then you have to go slower than usual. In general, you should allow more time for driving in fog.

The Highway Code does say "don't hang on to someone else's tail lights, it gives a false sense of security". Try instead to be guided by the road studs (cats' eyes), to see where the road is going. If you can't see the direction of the road very far ahead, you need to go slower.

Make sure you know also how to put your fog lights on, as you should use them when visibility is 100 metres or less, and if you live in town, you don't need to use them very often.

We slowed down considerably today, both on rural roads but also in the town, very difficult to see people, poor lighting, other cars without even lights on, let alone fog lights, always remember to put fogs on when needed (visibility less than 100m) but then turn them off when not needed such as in traffic or when the fog has parts where its less dense, people make the mistake of thinking its foggy so they keep them on constantly

I drove for almost 7 hours in fog today and it was very evident that lots of people didn't know they should be using their fog lights, and that they should drive more slowly when visibility is bad. Some of them very actually quite scary and if they arrived at their destination safe and sound, it was more down to luck than to judgement.

I'm somewhat horrified at a previous poster saying they prefer to drive faster so they can follow the car in front when they can't see the actual road markings. If you can't see the road markings, you need to slow the hell down!! You should always drive appropriately for the conditions - and don't be influenced by other drivers being idiots.

My father is a former professional driver / rally driver so I've had lessons in driving in difficult / unusual conditions drummed into me since I was a child. I got the lecture about fog last night (it was foggy when I was visiting my father) as well as checked both my car and my father's car had working fog lights. Basic stuff but shocking how many people don't seem to know / do it.

It's such a heavy fog! It took me 40 minutes to get 12 miles today on a dual carriageway, to Wrexham. Everyone was going 50-ish (apart from the usual Audi and BMWs steaming past) I made the decision to not overtake and just took it easy as well, gauging the other drivers behaviours. I've been driving over 20 years. Fog like that doesn't happen too often so no one can say they have loads of experience driving in it. Sounds like you did fine

Just drive as comfortably as you feel but please make sure your lights are on. I know this sounds a shame mple thing but most cars have auto lights now which will not come on in fog so they have to be on manual

My work colleague just can't fathom this and constantly says "my lights come on automatically".... and no amount of explaining will make her understand

You had hazards on while moving?

Why wouldn't you sometimes have call to put hazards on while moving?

You know you're supposed to use your hazards when moving sometimes in certain circumstances?

Dont you?

Thank you everyone 🙏 it's really useful for me to get this feedback. I did have my lights on including my fog lights - I think I needed them for the entire drive - it was certainly foggy the entire drive.

@LIZS yes that's what I was wondering about, the hazard lights. It worked for me at the time but I don't know if it was the right thing to do.

It was on the dual carriageway, national speed limit traffic was light, I went round a big corner that I couldn't see the end of when I started, saw the car in front was going very slow, I braked, looked in the mirror, indicated. As I continued to brake I could see gradually more cars behind me on both lanes so I put my hazards on to warn them that there was a very slow car in front and kept indicating to signal that I wanted to overtake it.

Yes, I have used hazard lights in a similar situation as a warning, I have seen other cars do the same

Normally you would be stationary, or only to alert those behind of needing to slow down for obstruction or similar. Not routinely in fog.

From AA:
When to use hazard lights
The Highway code says:
You can use hazard warning lights when your car’s stationary.
They’ll warn others that you're temporarily obstructing traffic.
Don’t use them as an excuse for illegal or dangerous parking.
You shouldn't use hazard lights when being towed.
You can use hazard lights if you’ve broken down on a motorway (or unrestricted dual carriageway) or to warn drivers behind you of a hazard or obstruction ahead. But remember to switch them off once your warning's been seen.

I put my hazards on to warn them that there was a very slow car in front and kept indicating to signal that I wanted to overtake it.

Would your indicator show if you have your hazards lights on?

Oh right maybe I wasn't correct. I did wonder. I had to drop from 70 to 20 suddenly so thought I should warn others. Maybe I made it worse - I don't know, because I overtook and drove on!

Drove 160 miles in the north west today, starting in the dark and finishing in the dark.
Several times I had to put my hazards on to warn speeding drivers behind that we were crawling along the M6 at 40mph.
Luckily, they all took heed and stayed back.
You couldn't see your hand in front of your face at some points and cyclists (on A roads) weren't High Viz enough for those conditions 😦

I don't know now you've said that! Is there a reason why it wouldn't? The guy behind me on the right hand lane flashed me to overtake so he must have seen the indicator, I think.

I thought hazards illuminated the indicator bulbs, so they would by flashing anyway.

I thought hazards usually use the indicator lights