to feel stressed out driving on motorway at night in heavy rain

[agnesf]

Have just completed 150 miles drive in rain with DH & DCs in car. DH cannot drive for health reasons so its always me in this situation. I find it really stressful to extent that right arm has gone numb from being so tense.

I used to be a bit more chilled about this but now feel like just one slip and I could kill everyone.

On radio was a programme about racing drivers being killed in Grand Prix and had to get DH to turn it off. AIBU

yanbu, well done for getting thru it. I felt stressed out driving around last night on dark country roads in the heavy rain! Freequent standing pools of water to hydroplane over, can't see the road nevermind around the next bend (many very sharp bends). Had promised to fetch someone (close relative I rarely see) from airport.

I find it stressful even in good conditions- so YANBU.

I'm another one who regularly drives motorways at night and is BEGGING for people NOT to turn on foglights or any other additional lighting (what is it with these sets of mahoosive bright lights on newer cars).

I wear contact lenses, and can see perfectly until some twat less experienced person puts on their own personal motorway illuminations

Also, yes in very bad conditions it is reasonable to slow down a bit but OP - I think 50 on a motorway is waaaaay to slow, you are going to antagonise other road users on a busy motorway doing that. They'll then take it upon themselves to show you how slow you are going, and you end up more stressed because of the tits sat right up your rear end imo.

Even in wet conditions motorways are safer to drive on than many A roads etc. The wet means you should leave more room between vehicles for braking, and overhead gantry sigms will indicate a lower speed limit if necessary.

And don't even get me started on middle lane cruisers

Actually, I am going to disagree with you re the rear fog lights. And yes, I know that the clue is in the name

Yesterday, on the M1, the conditions were so bad that it was virtually impossible to see the cars in front - even if they did have their headlights on - as it wasn't just about the amount of rain, it was also about the spray coming from the road/other cars. Rear fog lights, for that period of time, would have been helpful.

And speed too - 50 mph was too fast in those conditions. Which is probably why the motorway warning signs were on saying 40mph.

In 'normal' rain, yes, fog lights are wrong. But these were not normal conditions.

I would also agree, though, that if you're so worried about the conditions you end up blindly following someone else, then you should take advanced driving lessons. Nervous drivers panic and are a danger to other drivers.

YANBU, I used to drive from Cardiff to Liverpool and back every weekend and it was petrifying in heavy rain.

BIWI you are wrong I'm afraid. Fog lights are not to help you see better, they are to help others see you IN FOG

I can tell you now that other drivers did not appreciate seeing your lights dazzling them yesterday, even if it gave you a false sense of security.

Can you tell this is one of my bugbears?

I think BIWI meant it would have been helpful if other cars had their fogs on so she could better judge distance. That is in line with the highway code whjich says to use them in 'poor visibility'

Er - BitOutOfPractice - that's what I meant!

And I specifically said rear fog lights for that very reason.

And I didn't have my fog lights on ...

To be fair, you did originally just say "put your fog lights on" without specifying rear.

You said it was to see the car in front. I assume you would use your front fog lights for that? No?

As I say, front fog lights will not help you see better. They help cars approaching from the other direction to see you. Which on a motorway is irrelevant.

I still think you are wrong about rear fog lights in rain. They dazzle and confuse.

And before you ask, I drive about 20,000 miles a year.

You see the car in front because it has it's rear foglights on. The car behind sees you if you have yours on.

but I actually have no idea where my foglight switch is so I can't really comment

Fair enough. I meant rear lights, to increase visibility for people behind you. That means I can see the car in front better!

You may or may not agree - and the number of miles you drive doesn't really matter - but it's about visibility and yesterday it was truly appalling.

@ Soupy!

But not everybody did have their fog lights on because it wasn't foggy

Highway Code rules:

"226
You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves (see Rule 236)."

Just wanted to add front foglights aren't just so cars coming the other way can see you. If visibility is v bad then if a car is coming up behind you on a motorway (especially in a different lane) then if they have their front foglights on you can see them easier.

I agree with BIWI though .

Just thought of another thing. When I drive my Fiat, other people's lights don't bother me. But DH has a Ford with that quick-clear windscreen, and I hate driving that at night as the heating elements on the windscreen seem to refract other cars' lights. Always makes me think my vision's gone fuzzy!

Another one to say, please don't put your foglights on in the rain. The clue is in the name - FOGlights. It is OK to drive at 50 in the absolutely awful conditions there were yesterday. We were driving on the A34/M25 yesterday and conditions were horrnendous. Even in the daylight it was very difficult to see and the road was more like a river.

Some people did have their foglights on and they were a great distraction. Foglights are too bright nowadays, apart from in fog.

^^ Highway code ...

I don't think anyone enjoys driving in heavy rain, it reduces visibility. One of the motorways near me is almost guaranteed to be blocked due to an accident if there is rain.

As for foglights, a big clue as to whether they are needed are if you can see the car in front clearly and they don't have fogs on, then you don't need them either. If you are at the end of a line of traffic and there is no one behind you then depending on visibility it is worth considering putting them on until you are certain that any cars coming up behind you have seen you.

In towns and cities, traffic is usually close enough that you can see the cars around you without needing fog lights.

I once drove along the A14 in very thick fog at night, visibility was around about 5-10 feet, yet there were cars doing 60 - 70 going past us. That was one of the scariest journies I've ever made!

Yeah bionic emu you can see them easier because you've been dazzled by their fog lights. And what should you do once you know there's a car behind you?

BIWI - you carry on then. Just realise that while it may make you feel safer, it puts everyone else at greater risk.

No it doesn't. See the Highway Code.

Well if I want to pull out to overtake the car I'm following then surely it's good to know if there's a car coming up in the lane I'm about to pull out into?

TBH I tend to follow the rule that if I wish other cars would put their lights on then I put mine on.

Maybe it depends on where in the country you're driving? My biggest annoyance here is when its the middle of the day but overcast and chucking it down, with lots of spray, but some people don't put any lights on at all. Your car is silver, the copious amounts of spray look silver, so put your damn headlights on!

This was me yesterday.

I drove from Surrey to Leicester (via Nuneaton to drop off a friend).

It was bumper to bumper 5mph on the M25. We left at 6pm and at 8.30 we still hadn't got to Heathrow. I was sitting in the left hand lane but then it kept turning into the turn lane only, so I had to keep forcing my way into the traffic to my right. I couldn't see a thing out of my mirrors, it was pitch black and no bastard would let me in. I ended up coming off at Uxbridge and parking the car for a few minutes to give me a breather. I then went back and came off at the M40 instead of going up to the M1.

I then had to stop in Oxford at the services for another break because I was so stressed with spray and dark and arghhhhh!