Safe Speed Forums

I hate riding on foggy mornings.

It’s not necessarily because my journey time is longer or that condensation on the visor massively reduces my vision. It’s not the effect of having to ‘crack’ the visor open to demist, which makes my eyes steam. No, it’s the display of utter ignorance shown by (approx.) 50% of my fellow travellers.

To drive without lights or with ‘parking’ lights only is way beyond the normal, acceptable level of ‘lack-of-roadcraft’. We can constantly see errors on the road, primarily due to lack of education, experience or skill but how can so many fall short on such basic common sense?

It’s totally beyond me how these people don’t realise that, without lights, others can’t see them so well. Perhaps more worrying is – maybe they just don’t care.

_________________
It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

Yes, the patchiness this morning was particularly confusing to some idiots.

_________________
Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

i think the general train of thought is that lights are for seeing, not for being seen. typical general ignorance of the average motorist

_________________
Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

when will they learn?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7038940.stm

wasnt it the M1 that had something like 100 vehicles crash not all that long ago? i remember seeing a documentary where the accident began and people kept piling into the back of it making it worse and worse. vehicles blowing up, fog so thick the injured people could only hear more vehicles crashing etc etc etc

still on the subject of fog, why do they change matrix signs to read FOG? you see flashing lights, you squint to read it through the fog and it says FOG. cheers for the warning

_________________
Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

I just wonder why any cyclists are still alive. After this morning going to work and passing the usual crop of suspects cycling their merry way to town. 3 with no lights at all (0650z...dark...foggy...about 60 metres vision) and the other cycling away like a demented moron with only three red leds on the back of his knapsack.....all on the road, which has a cycle track alongside it ! It's no wonder they want car drivers to have no-fault insurance.

Of all the things that annoy me on the road- one of the worst has to be the idiots that, in fog/torrential rain/etc, still insist on driving as fast as possible, carving you up BTCC style at roundabouts, et all.

_________________
Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

NO NO NO you lot just dont understand they dont need their lights on coz they can see everybody else

And it's not just them.....The Highway Code doesn't think they need their lights on either



Think about it. 100m isn't very far when you're travelling at 60mph and looking for on-coming traffic. If you can see nothing beyond 100m, they and you don't need headlights on.

_________________
It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

_________________
Chris

But if you use the proper Highway Code you get:



Sorted.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Only if you resort to READING the Highway Code!!
I'm sure that 90% of drivers never give it a second glance once they have passed their test, unless challenged in the pub over some point or other!
Now if we had those "See and be seen" adverts on the telly like we used to, I'm sure the effect would be greater.

_________________
Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Absolutely - and I bet more people have read the proper version

_________________
It's tricky doing nothing - you never know when you're finished

DSA - Driving Essential Skills.. I think this must have on shelf or in glove compartment .. und a must -read too.

It says to always be abel to stop in distance you see to be clear. It tells you to use dipped headlights if visibility ist poor or dark. If foggy - they say you should use fog light if visibility down to 100m or 328 feet. They advise to use wipers und set the heater to demist und switch on the heated windows if you have them.

It also says to check the speedo from time to time on page 245. It does not advocate this on any other page On all the other pages it tell you to look at the road which ist what we've been saying. all the time

_________________
Nicht ganz im Lot!
Ich setze mich immer wieder in die Nesseln! Der Mad Doc ist mein Mann! Und ich benutzte seinen PC!

UND OUR SMILEYS? Smile ... und the the world smiles with you.
Smiley guy seen when you read
Fine me for Safe Speed
(& other good causes..)

Greatest love & Greatest Achievements Require Greatest Risk
But if you lose the driving plan - don't lose the COAST lesson.
Me?
Je ne regrette rien!

I remember seeing an interview with a retired AA man. Apparently he was one of the first people on the scene of one of the very first motorway fog pileups in the early days of motorways.

They were trying to flag the drivers down, flashing torches at them, but to no avail. They would not stop.

Then the AA man had a great idea. He emptied a large jerrycan of petrol over the motorway and put a match to it, causing a river of fire to flow across the road. The drivers did not stop. They merely drove through the wall of flames!

_________________
www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

You must have several screws loose to willingly drive through a wall of flames...

Regarding the fog issue, I totally agree - some drivers need to think of more than just themselves! If it's even remotely poor visibility I'll put my lights on, and I avoid using my sidelights because what's the point? If it's a situation that requires lights, it requires full (i.e. on but dipped) headlights.
Perhaps we should implement a system in cars similar to newer motorbikes - where the dipped beam cannot be turned off?

I bet they are the same people who sit in the middle lane of the motorway, too.

I'm not surprised though the way some people drive in fog. Some years back I was driving up and down the A1 fairly regularly, and there were a couple of patches which were often a fog trap at night. Several times I found myself cruising at barely 25 to 30 mph in the left lane because you simply could not see far enough to travel any faster in safety, and still there were lunatics flying past at what must have been at least 60 mph.

I just tried to think "That's one less than might plow into the back of me."



No, no, no!

http://www.lightsout.org/

http://www.dadrl.org.uk/