Winter-ready driving tips: A guide to surviving the foggy highways
Here are five driving tips for you to get through fog, and keep your spirits high even when temperatures are freezing cold
As winter knocks on the door of Bangladesh, it is nearly time for chilly mornings, dense fog, and the anticipated road trips and annual picnics.
The good thing about winter in Bangladesh is that unlike the West, our roads aren't covered in slippery snow. That being said, it is still necessary to maintain certain precautions for a safe road trip. Hence, if you're using a personalised vehicle, here are five driving tips for you to get through fog, and keep your spirits high even when temperatures are freezing cold.
1. Invest in warm-coloured fog lights
Most modern cars these days come with LED projection headlights and in terms of regular visibility, they're great. This is until you hit dense winter fog.
The ray of light can either cut through the fog or reflect back depending on the colour temperature of the light. Thus, regular LED or HID headlights of modern day cars, which usually have a cool temperature, can create a blinding white-out effect that hides everything in sight.
Since headlight swaps are quite pricey, one easy way to get around this problem is to install warm-coloured fog lights. Those classic yellow or amber lights aren't limited to their aesthetic appeal only.
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Rather, a high luminance pair of fog lights can slice through the mist without scattering light everywhere. Yellow or amber lights work best here, helping you see obstacles, vehicles, or even pedestrians who may not expect your approach.
2. Keep an emergency battery booster and jumper cables
The cold temperatures of winter have a nasty habit of draining car batteries. This is especially true for batteries which are old and in particular, past their warranty period. However, during a cosy winter drive, the last thing one would want is a dead battery on a foggy morning or worse, a chilly night.
That's where an emergency battery booster could come in as your life saviour. An emergency battery booster is like a very short lasting power bank for the car that can start and pass enough voltage to start the car a few times. This is especially useful if one is driving on a deserted road.
However, a cheaper alternative to this are jumper cables. Unlike the battery booster, the jumper cable is used to start the engine using the battery of another vehicle– enough to get the job done as long as another vehicle is willing to help.
3. Keep the washer fluid in check
Before heading out for a road trip in winter, make sure the washer fluid level is adequate. In Bangladesh, while as beautiful as winter fogs can get, they're usually full of grime and dirt, which when mixed with the fog's water droplets, can turn a perfectly good windscreen into an opaque mess.
Thus, while ensuring proper washer fluid level at all times is a must, this is particularly important before going on winter drives as this is the time of the year with the most dust in the air.
More importantly, always use proper washer fluid rather than plain water, unless the former isn't available. This is because a washer fluid is way better at removing the dust and grimes than regular or soapy water. This will always result in a cleaner windshield equaling better visibility, and on foggy roads, you need every bit of it.
4. Install anti-fog films
Fog doesn't just haunt the roads in winter; it also sneaks into your car, turning your windows into blurry messes. The good old trick to get rid of this is to use the car's front and rear windshield heaters and lowering the AC temperature to match that of the outside.
However, while it sounds good on paper, many times it doesn't seem to work, especially when there is dense fog around. Thus, a better plan would be to keep some anti-fog wipes or apply anti-fog film to your windows and mirrors.
These are quite affordable, starting from Tk300 and rather easy to install. Although, when it comes to their application, they work like magic, saving you from wiping down foggy glass with your sleeve every few minutes – not exactly the safest practice. Although it is worth noting that within a few months, the hydrophobic layer on top of these, which gives them their application, gets off making them quite useless.
5. Be patient
The excitement of a holiday road trip can make even the calmest drivers a bit hasty. In winter fog however, it is best to be cautious when on the road and maintain the ground rules.
Firstly, keep a safe distance from the car in front, at least twice what you would usually leave. The reduced visibility can drastically increase the reaction time and tailgating could turn into trouble faster than one can apply the brake.
Secondly, ensure the fluid levels and tyre pressure is in check before heading out. Low temperatures can cause tire pressure to drop, which isn't great for traction, especially on fog-slick roads.
Finally, with the fog lights, make sure the headlights and taillights are also in good condition, not dim or flickering, so other drivers can see you as well as you see them. And in particularly dense fog, drive with the hazard lights on for added safety.
