Advice

Riding in Fog: Do’s & Dont’s

Written by Tejen Dhankhar

As we wrote a feature earlier over driving in fog, this one can be considered as the sequel of that. Driving a four wheeler and being in a safe closed environment is just the reverse of riding a two wheeler. One should not be riding in fog, dark or rains but it’s not possible every time to avoid such situations. So, here are some do’s & dont’s for riding in fog.

DO’S

> Get your two wheeler serviced properly. Maintaining is one of the major things to take care of. Check yourself all the necessary things, from any leaks to any type of minor faults. Everything should be working fine and properly. Watch for any electrical failures of any of the lights. Check your tyre pressure and brakes or get them checked properly.

>Wear proper safety equipment. Apart from helmet, which is a must, buy a good riding jacket, guards & riding pants to save yourself from any fatal situation.

>Always ride on low beam. Riding on high beam leads to scattering of the light from water molecules and hence reducing the visibility for oncoming traffic.

>Never over speed. Avoid lane splitting and stick to the two wheeler lane i.e. on the extreme left side.

>If your tyres are worn out of tread, get them replaced immediately. Fog means wet surfaces and less tread means less grip.

>Keep adequate distance from the front moving traffic. In case of emergency stops, you should have a good distance to stop safely.

>Wear bright clothes to make yourself visible in fog. Dull colors lead to mixing in the darkness of fog.

>Clean the visor of your helmet properly to ensure good visibility. Buy an anti-fog visor to prevent misting inside the visor screen.

>Get your tank filled up to the brim before starting. Fog might lead to missing of fuel pumps due to less visibility.

DON’TS

>Lane splitting and speeding would be the last thing that you might want to do in foggy situations. Avoid at every cost. In case of emergency use other mode of transports. To avoid getting late, reschedule your routine.

>Do not slam the brakes immediately. Tailgating traffic might not get enough distance to stop and hence ramming into you.

>Do not stand by the road. Whenever you need to make stops, make it at a safe place with a proper distance from road. In case you need to stop by road, lit your vehicle to dictate the surpassing traffic.

>Never run on less tread tyres, weak brakes, fused out light bulbs. It’s fatal in every sense.

[Image : Indiabullriders.com]