Non-Precipitation Weather Safety
The largest factor in most non-precipitation weather events is the lack of visibility due to strong wind picking up sand and dust or the development of dense fog. In the United States during 1990 and 1991, four multiple-vehicle accidents caused by reduced visibility conditions resulted in 21 fatalities.
Such catastrophic accidents dramatize the hazard of reduced visibility on the highway caused by fog, dust, or smoke. The extreme variability in density, predictability, and location of the hazard further complicates the task of improving highway safety conditions.
Also of great concern are erratic driver behaviors, including excessive or variable speeds, following too closely, or stopping on the roadway, which increase potential for accidents. Once an accident occurs, reduced visibility increases the likelihood of secondary accidents, where vehicles collide with those already involved. (from "NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice 228: Reduced Visibility Due to Fog on the Highway.")
Consequently, most weather safety rules for these types of weather events deal with visibility. At times of reduced visibility...
- Drive with lights on low-beam at night. High beams scatter the light back toward you and actually reduce your forward visibility.
- Slow down...Slow down...Slow down. Excessive speed is the primary reason for nearly all low visibility related accidents.
- Listen for traffic you cannot see.
- Do not drive around railroad crossing gates. Every year, people are killed by trains at railroad crossings while attempting to cross the tracks in the fog.
- Use wipers and defroster as necessary for maximum vision during foggy conditions.
- Be patient. Don't switch lanes unnecessarily.
- Unless absolutely necessary, don't stop on any freeway or road. If you are stopped on a road, pull your vehicle to the side as far as you can, TURN YOUR VEHICLE'S LIGHTS OFF, and take your foot off of the brake pedal. People tend to follow tail lights when driving in fog.
- Consider postponing your trip until the visibility improves.
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