The northern part of India saw the first episode of season’s early fog yesterday. While many flights and trains were delayed, commuters travelling on the road had to face conditions even worse. Here is a video from the highway yesterday that shows the extreme dangers of fog.
What exactly happened?
The accident reportedly took place on the Agra-Lucknow expressway yesterday. The video shows a pile-up of multiple vehicles on the highway that involves a bus and various SUVs, hatchbacks and sedans. People involved in the accident can be seen coming out of the vehicles after the crash while others can be seen recording the vehicles involved in the crash. The person who is making the video explains that a few cars have hit the pile up after the initial accident. It is not clear which vehicles were initially involved in the accident.
Due to the extremely low visibility, more cars can be seen coming at high speed and hitting the piled up vehicles. The onlookers ask the occupants of the vehicles to come out of the vehicles quickly as they sense more oncoming vehicles.
In the end, there is more vehicle that can be seen coming at high speed and ramming the pile-up. All the occupants seen in the video seem to be hurt and most probably were not wearing seatbelts, especially the passengers sitting in the rear. No casualty has been reported from the incident yet.
Also, none of the vehicles can be seen with hazard lights on after the crash, which can give warning to the others. Many high-end vehicles have the feature to activate the hazard lamp if the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop or meets an accident. However, none of the vehicles seen in this video seems to have the feature except the XUV, which is stuck in the front.
Seven life-saving TIPS for driving in fog
- Avoid going out in the fog if it is not an emergency – Fog can bring down the visibility quickly and can put you in dangerous situations. In many patches of the road, the fog can become thick and further bring down the visibility. Low visibility can also hide big pot potholes or other hazards on the road.
- Daytime is the best time – The effect of fog can multiply during the night time. The visibility further drops down due to the darkness and the light from the headlamp can reflect back to the eyes of the driver, which further causes trouble to see the road.
- Use fog lamps, not hazard lamps. Most people turn on their hazard lamps during heavy fog. It is a mistake; the hazard lights are supposed to be used only when the car is a standstill. The hazard lamps confuse other drivers on the road who cannot make out if the car is standstill or moving. Also, use the low beam lamps and the fog lamps, if your car has one. Lights which are positioned closer to the road help to see better during the foggy conditions. Never use high beam as they reflect back and blinds you.
- Use hazard lamps when your vehicle needs to be parked at the side of the road. This is applicable even during accidents. Get out of the car quickly after an accident but make sure you scan your surroundings for oncoming vehicles before doing so. If you have to stay inside the vehicle, keep the seat belts on.
- Drive slow during foggy conditions. Restricted visibility means you cannot look beyond a certain point. Cutting down the speed will give you enough time to perform any emergency braking manoeuvres if the need arises.
- Follow lane markings. If you can’t avoid driving in foggy conditions, the best way to know the road bends and follow the road is to follow the lane markings. If there are no lane-marking on the road, follow the divider or the edge of the road to know which side the road is bending.
- If you need to park your car on the side of the road, make sure that you are away from the tarmac and parked away from the moving traffic. Switch on your hazard lamps, and if you’re sitting inside the car, you can keep the headlamps on the low beam or parking lamp mode to make sure that the brake lamps are on.