For foggy days, and otherwise

H. Kishie Singh

Twelve cars pile-up, woman and daughter killed; 40 vehicles crash, 3 of family killed; 7 die on Ambala Road, 5 kids injured.

The worst was when eight people perished, all in one car and all from the same village. “There was an eerie silence in the village as the mass funerals took place,” reported one paper.

These are some of the headlines that came in rapid succession as 2018 drew to a close and the New Year began. All for one reason: fog.

Fog means loss of vision. When travelling at speed, you will need a certain distance to come to a dead halt. The accompanying chart will give you an idea of how much distance is required for safe driving. This is the distance you need to stop if you see a pile up on the road.

After a couple of foggy and drizzly days, you will see a number of roundabouts or road dividers bashed in. Apparently, the driver saw the obstacle, but, too late. His speed was too high and did not allow him to stop within the distance available to him.

For example, driving at 50 kmph, you need at least 50 metres to avoid a collision; that is approximately 13 car lengths. So here you are, maintaining a safe distance from the vehicle in front. And in doing that you create a problem for yourself.

The car behind you is not going to take this lightly. After a few silent curses under his breath and much honking, he will overtake and fill the gap you have created for yourself. Before you can say ‘Thiruvanathapuram’, you have a rear bumper only a few metres ahead of your front bumper. Safety advantage lost!

In India, if you drive slow you are accused of being a slow coach. If you drive fast, you will be abused of being rash and reckless. Let me tell you another alarming episode. A bunch of family and friends was travelling in tandem in two cars. The lead car broke down. The second car pulled up behind him.

A couple of guys got out to see what the problem was. They opened the bonnet and stood around on the road hopeful to sort out the problem. They were hardly qualified to carry out any repairs. It was a foggy day with poor visibility.

Along came a car at speed, did not see the group on the road, ran over two of them, killing them on the spot! This was on the Zirakpur-Ambala highway. It is a fast, multi-lane blacktop and has emerged as the most dangerous road in the region. Whenever you travel on this stretch, fair weather or foul, be alert.

A word of advice: In case you have a breakdown on the highway, abandon the car, for, some mindless fool could run into you. The safest and sensible move would be to put on your hazard flashers and stand 20 metres away. That way you could live to give an eye witness account of your car getting smashed!

This would surely make you feel cold and miserable on a cold foggy day, but you will at least not get run over!

Happy Motoring!