It's getting autumnal. The third season not only brings colorful leaves, but also fog. Drivers should be prepared for this.
With the fall pull stronger again thick wafts of fog across the country. The veil of haze settles particularly well in the morning hours and in the evening over large areas, including motorways and country roads. For traffic, the reduced visibility caused by fog can be a serious hazard that should be prepared for and responded to appropriately.
Important in autumn is a optimal condition for light and vision. Accordingly, it is advisable to clean the headlight and check its function. A quick cleaning action is enough to optimize the light output, while cleaning the windscreen from the outside and inside also improves visibility.
It should also be checked whether the alignment of the headlights is still correct. This can be found out quickly and precisely with a light test in the workshop, which is often offered in autumn. If headlights are adjusted incorrectly, this generally worsens the illumination in front of your own vehicle, and other road users can also be dazzled.
Anyone who lives near a river or body of water knows the places where fog often occurs. However, drivers are often surprised by fog and poor visibility. Therefore, it is important to be forward-looking at this time of year. If you register cloudy haze from afar, you should take your foot off the gas and that Switch on low beam. Relying on the auto light is not a good idea. Since it reacts to differences in brightness, it often does not recognize visual impairments such as fog, or does so late. Daytime running lights are not bright enough for difficult visibility conditions, and the rear lights are missing for your own visibility. Basically, it is advisable to listen to the traffic radio in autumn, because it provides information about road sections affected by fog.
If you drive into a fog bank, you should slow down regardless of the light and increase the distance to the vehicle in front. Most drivers do this intuitively. However, there are also generally applicable guidelines and legally binding limits on visibility. If it is below 150 meters, a maximum of 100 km/h is considered the appropriate speed. If visibility drops to 100 meters, only 80 km/h are permitted. If the distance is less than 50 meters, the speed must drop to a maximum of 3 km/h according to § 50 StVO. Even if the official speed limit on the road is actually higher, exceeding the fog limit carries the same fines and points as normal speed offences. There are also guidelines for the distance. The rule of thumb is: one meter per km/h.
It is not always easy for drivers to correctly assess visibility. Boundary pillars in the Line the road at a distance of 50 meters. If you are at the level of such a pillar and only the next two pillars are clearly visible, the 150 meter mark is undershot. If the next but one pillar is already in the haze, visibility is less than 100 meters. If even the next post is difficult or no longer recognizable, only a maximum of 50 km/h is allowed.
Only then, and only then, is she allowed to in Nebelschlussleuch be switched on. Drivers often activate them when it is raining or snowing or when visibility is well over 50 meters. However, the catalog of fines in Germany provides for fines of 50 to 20 euros for the use of rear fog lights with visibility of more than 35 meters.
The situation is different with the use of Fog lights out. These can even be switched on when it rains or snows. If you drive into a fog bank with restricted visibility, you can actually always activate the fog lights. Among other things, these ensure better visibility, since the low beam, which is ideally always activated in the foggy season, no longer penetrates the road due to the reflective fog. Under no circumstances should you activate the high beam, because the fine water beads reflect the light and also impair visibility.
Mario Hommen / SP-X
