How to save lives in dense fog with one move | Car

The KNMI regularly warns of fog banks in the morning. But Marc Woortmeijer of the Traffic Police mainly sees many vehicles driving with only daytime running lights, which means that the rear lights are not on, among other things. Drivers must always turn on their dipped headlights themselves in dense fog.

The officer of Police Team Traffic East Netherlands explains how many motorists literally go wrong. “They always have the lighting on automatic and see the light for the lighting on their dashboard.”

He continues: ,,That’s always good, they think. But they don’t know that the sensor on the windshield only measures the light. When it gets dark, the low beams only come on. But in fog, rain and snow this does not happen during the day and only the daytime lighting is on. This is especially dangerous in a car that does not have rear lights. Before you know it, you’ll be on top of that.”

In short; when visibility is limited, drivers should not have their light set automatically by a sensor, but should press or turn the button to use the low beams themselves.

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Eighteen months ago, the agent already reported on social media how often things go wrong with the use of fog lights. “This morning I saw several cars drive by in a few minutes without the proper lighting. I think two to three percent are not involved at all. Some don’t even have the lights on at all,” he wrote at the time.

Now he is posting another warning on Facebook: ‘I already made a post about it last year. There were a lot of reactions. Many people are also annoyed by it. We then approached a number of motorists who had just come out of the neighbourhood. They really didn’t realize they didn’t have the lighting in order.’

The consequences can be enormous. ‘You can be at fault in a collision due to inattention or careless action. That can be insurance technically annoying. But of course it’s much worse when it involves injury. A collision with injuries can ultimately result in a criminal case.’

According to Woortmeijer, visibility is therefore one of the most important issues in the field of road safety. “Very important. Just look at accidents involving motorcyclists. That’s very often because they don’t stand out and are therefore overlooked. This also applies to cyclists who do not have their lighting in place.”

Rijkswaterstaat gives some tips for driving in fog below. For example, in dense fog, if visibility is less than 200 meters, drivers should turn on the fog lamps.