THIS FOGGING HIGHWAY!

Don’t be a tailgater! Many of us don’t see as far ahead as we should
because we follow too closely, and the vehicle ahead blocks our view.

On a bright morning, we would start at daybreak and land up at the oldies (in-laws) for lunch in Lucknow. Throw in half-hour break for sandwiches and tea at Bareilly, making it percisely eight hours from Noida covering exactly 500 km on NH-24. But as Luck (now) would have it this year-end, hit the foggy zone within an hour of starting out at 6.30. Things looked fine, so there was no reason to call off the trip. But who could imagine the weekend would turn out thus? While a Toyota Corolla met with a horrible head-on with a truck ahead killing the driver on the spot, had my share of killing, too! A pup! Shit!!! And let's not forget the anti-Bush protestors at Ferozabad, who won't stop banging Speedy until I nearly crushed some of them under the rear wheels. All in all, why do people drive to Luknow? Could someone tell me, please? Unless, of course, you missed the 6.20 a.m. Shatabadi Express from New Delhi Railway Station or the flight got delayed because there were too many politico-types boarding the same flight...

Now, why go to Lucknow at all?

ALL THE REASONS TILL LAST YEAR: Tunda's Kakori kebabs @ the Chowk! And, ahem, chikankari (avoid Sewa at all costs, too costly); old fellas, of course.
ALL THE REASONS THIS YEAR: Tunda's Kakori kebabs @ the Chowk! And, ahem, chikankari (avoid Sewa at all costs, too costly); old fellas, of course, and the Lucknow-Kanpur-Etawah-Ferozabad-Agra-Delhi highway! It rocks...all thanks to Mulayam Singh Yadav. Etawah is his constituency. The only rough patches you encounter are at Etawah that end at Makhanpur near Agra.

It also makes sense to take this route this time of the year because NH-24 runs through the sugarcane belt and this is harvest time. Back to fog, there aren't that many accidents when its foggy as opposed to when it's raining or when it's a fine day. But as soon as you link these to the number of days when it's foggy, raining or fine, you find that you are dozens of times more at risk. In fact, it is not putting it too strongly to say that if you do run into fog, you are in serious danger. Everything about fog is wrong - you can't do a thing, there's a fog code which everybody knows but not everyone obeys, and if an accident happens, it could be a pile up with dozens of vehicles crashing into each other and no way to avoid it.

No one is really quite sure what goes wrong in fog. Why do people drive at 60 kmph as if there's nothing in front of them? Is it because they become disorientated with no visual clues to let them assess their speed? Or are they assuming that because they can see other people driving fast they become frightened that they'll be rammed from behind? Even a person driving slowly according to the fog code will be pressured into speeding up when he/she sees cars zooming past them.

What is needed is some research to come up with answers - what happens when we drive into fog, why do we end up with one lot of drivers following the fog code and the other drivers not obeying it - which is a bit like traffic lights where one lot of drivers obey the rules and drive through on the green light and the others disobey the rules and drive through on the red light.

So what can we do if we do hit fog. Clearly we should obey the fog code but my own personal view is that there is a problem because not everyone is using the code - the pile up happens when a fast-moving vehicle hits a slow moving vehicle, i.e. the person obeying the code. It may need legislation so that you must drive at say 20 kmph. With modern speed cameras it would not be too difficult to deploy these and there's nothing like a fine to make people drop their speed. Until that happens, or we all have cars with infra-red imaging systems, my priorities would be:
1) Don't travel if there's fog
2) If you do get caught in fog, move to a quieter road and find a safe place to park
3) Use the fog code and resist the temptation to increase your speed. And in case you don't know your fog code, here it is:

THE FOG CODE
Before driving in fog, consider if your journey is essential. If it is, allow extra time. Make sure your windscreen, windows and lights are clean and that all your lights (including brake lights) are working.

When driving in fog:

(a) See and be seen. If you cannot see clearly use dipped headlights. Use front or rear fog lights if visibility is seriously reduced but switch them off when visibility improves. Use your windscreen wipers and demisters.

(b) Check your mirrors and slow down. Keep a safe distance behind the vehicle in front. You should always be able to pull up within the distance you can see clearly.

(c) Do not hang on to the tail lights of the vehicle in front: it gives a false sense of security. In thick fog, if you can see the vehicle in front you are probably too close unless you are travelling very slowly.

(d) Be aware of your speed. You may be going much faster than you think. Do not accelerate to get away from a vehicle which is too close behind you. When you slow down, use your brakes so that your brake lights warn drivers behind you.

(e) Fog can drift rapidly and is often patchy. Even if it seems to be clearing, you can suddenly find yourself back in thick fog.

On a lighter note, with modern cars we've all but forgotten the fog horn which of course was for use in fog. And in London, back in the 1930's they tied blow lamps to traffic lights in the fog partly to burn it away and partly for drivers to see.