3 tips on driving through fog this winter
During the winter months, driving through the Sacramento Valley can get tricky, especially with fog.
Since it decreases your visibility of the traffic ahead, many drivers get in collisions.
Public Information Officer Tommy Riggin of the California Highway Patrol – West Sacramento division offered three tips on how to drive safely through fog this winter:
USE YOUR LOW BEAMS
Make sure to turn on your low-beam lights when you begin driving through fog. The low beams will help alert oncoming or cross traffic that you are near them. Parking lights don’t illuminate anything forward and high beams can blind other drivers, Riggin said.
“You can end up blinding yourself when driving in the fog with high beams on,” Riggin said.
BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU ARE DRIVING
Especially in dense fog, the only thing you can see is the white line painted on the road. Riggin suggests following that line to know where you are but warns drivers about potential hazards with it.
“If you try to drive on the line, you can potentially put yourself on the side of the road, depending on what line you are guiding yourself on, or could be straddling a lane,” Riggin said.
He also mentioned that you want to take it slow because “you may be driving in a place where you don’t know where you are at” because you may not know what lies ahead.
THE DENSER THE FOG, THE SLOWER YOU SHOULD GO
Riggin advises drivers to slow down when they come against dense fog.
“Drive at a speed that is prudent, that’s not going to hazard you or other traffic,” Riggin said. “Depending on the density of the fog, what your visibility is, the less you can see the slower you should be driving.”
He also suggests driving at a speed where you can still act, if need be, like if an animal runs out on the road or you see oncoming cars.
For more driving tips during the winter weather, check out the CHP’s website on safe driving.