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Driving safely in fog

Blog post posted on 13/01/16 |
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Advice

#wheelsinwinter

This week’s tips from IAM RoadSmart's head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman, are sharing advice with motorists about driving safely in fog. Read our latest tips to ensure your journey is as smooth as possible.

  • Give your car windows a good clean, including the section beneath the windscreen wipers. Dust, tar, tree sap and grime build up fast, particularly at this time of year.
  • Keep your windscreen washer topped up with screen wash to rinse off any debris while you are driving – dirty windows tend to mist up quickly, making it more difficult to see.
  • Remember to switch on your dipped headlights and don’t rely on them switching on automatically. If visibility is less than 100 metres, switch on your fog lights, but turn them off once visibility improves.
  • Always drive so you can stop on your own side of the road and within the distance you can see to be clear. Patches of fog will not always be of the same density and may get thicker again – be prepared to slow down.
  • At junctions stop and listen to get as much extra information as possible about oncoming vehicles, but remember that thick fog can deaden sound and make judging speed even more difficult.
  • A combination of fog and darkness can make it extremely difficult to see. Keep an eye out for vulnerable road users including pedestrians and cyclists, particularly on side roads and other areas of poor visibility.

Richard said: “If you experience a breakdown when visibility is poor and you’re on the hard-shoulder or a side road, make sure you and your car are always as obvious as possible to other road users. Keep the dipped headlights switched on and wear a high-visibility jacket to help other vehicles spot you while you wait for help."

“If weather conditions are extremely bad simply avoid starting your journey at all.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

  1. Richard Gladman is IAM RoadSmart's head of driving and riding standards.
  2. IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety debates on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.

Media contacts:

IAM Press Office – 020 8996 9777

press.office@iam.org.uk/ www.iamroadsmart.com

ISDN broadcast lines available

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAMroadsmart    

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamgroup 

ENDS