Driving in dense fog can feel unsafe, which is not unreasonable. The reduced visibility increases the risk of accidents.
SVT has spoken to driving school teacher Christian Runstenwho give their best tips for avoiding accidents in the fog.
According to Runsten, the fog makes it more difficult to determine how fast you are driving, as you have fewer reference points, and also increases the risk of serial collisions.
– It is easy to misunderstand how fast the car in front is going, it can even be that the car has stopped and you don’t notice it. Then there could be serial collisions, he tells SVT.
Take it easy and be patient
A situation that, according to the driving school teacher, easily becomes dangerous is when you catch up with another car in the fog and feel like you want to overtake.
In the fog, it can be difficult to see oncoming traffic, and the advice is therefore to take it easy and not try to overtake unnecessarily.
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Drive more calmly than usual
Another common problem is that you easily get lost or disoriented in the fog, even on a road you know well.
The advice is therefore that in the fog it is especially important to take it easy, keep good margins and drive more slowly than usual.
In the fog, it is important to turn on the rear fog lights – Photo: Claus Gertsen/TT Maximize visibility in the fog
When the general visibility is poor, for example in fog, it is also important, according to Runsten, to make sure that the visibility through the windows themselves is as good as possible.
It is therefore particularly important to keep fog away from the windows. Therefore, make sure to use the defroster on the rear window and to set the interior fan to an appropriate speed.
Use fog lights
In fog, it is also especially important to both see and be seen as well as possible.
In order to be seen as well as possible from behind, it is important to switch on the rear fog lights.
In front, in fog, you can have the dipped beam on, but the risk is that this illuminates the fog and dazzles you as the driver. Then you can instead drive with parking lights and fog lights. The fog lights sit lower and do not illuminate the fog in front of the car in the same way.
It is not permitted to drive with both dipped beam and fog lights at the same time.
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