Stanislaus officials launch awareness campaign for safe driving in fog

Stanislaus County officials on Thursday launched a public awareness campaign on Twitter and Facebook warning drivers it’s dangerous to travel in foggy conditions without their headlights and rear lights on.

With more fog in the forecast for the Modesto area at least through the weekend, county officials are hoping drivers change bad habits. The campaign’s message: “When you start your car, turn on your low beams. Daytime running lights aren’t meant for fog.”

Turning on all lights helps pedestrians and other drivers see vehicles coming down the road. The California Highway Patrol warns drivers in foggy conditions to reduce speed, manually turn on lights, keep both hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.

“We’re still seeing vehicles that are driving too fast in the fog,” said Officer Eric Parsons, a spokesman for the Modesto area CHP.

He said a recent crash occurred because a driver tried to pass another vehicle when visibility had dropped to about 250 feet. The driver collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle near Fulkerth and Faith Home roads, west of Turlock.

Drivers always should be on alert, even when the weather appears to be clearing up. Vehicles can suddenly run into patches of thicker fog, forcing drivers to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision.

“You’ve got to drive slower when it’s foggy ... to give yourself enough time to react,” Parsons said.

Just making sure all your lights are on as soon as you start the car is the safest way to drive in fog. “So you know that other people can see you,” said county spokesman David Jones.

Even with visibility dropping to about a quarter of a mile, some drivers aren’t turning on their lights, according to Jones. He said he spotted 15 vehicles without any lights on during his three-mile drive to work about 7:30 a.m. Thursday in Modesto.

Over the past few days, residents have complained about vehicles without their lights on in the fog. Jones said they’ve seen a lot of these complaints on the county’s social media feeds.

“It’s definitely frustration,” Jones said about the complaints.

The Bee asked its readers on Facebook to talk about what they have seen on the road during this foggy weather. Jeannie Crawford said maybe it would be better if all vehicles had automatic lights that were always on.

“I’m tired of how many are driving around with no lights,” Crawford posted. “Oh, and thank you to all the drivers that do have their lights on ... no telling how many lives you might be saving by doing so.”

Some drivers mistakenly think driving with automatic daytime headlights is enough for foggy conditions during the day, even though the rear lights remain off. That could lead to rear-end collisions.

“I don’t think it’s people intentionally trying to be unsafe, but I think they might not know how their lights operate,” Jones said.

Brent Burnside, owner of Burnside Body Shop in Modesto, says the business commonly sees a lot of wrecked vehicles when the weather gets foggy. Unfortunately, there are a lot of drivers who don’t realize automatic lights might not turn on your rear lights, or turn on your headlights only when it’s dark.

“You have to turn on the lights manually in the day during foggy conditions,” Burnside said.

He said driving without all your lights on could result in chain-reaction crashes while vehicles are moving through intersections at full speed. “It can be a real nasty wreck,” Burnside said.

Pamela Rettig Dubbs understands how automatic lights work on her vehicle. “My car has automatic lights, but only for the dark. I switch to manual when it’s foggy. I can’t believe how many idiots drive in the fog with no lights on,” Dubbs wrote on Facebook.

Without much wind in the forecast, the foggy weather is expected to stick around in the Modesto area through Sunday morning, said National Weather Service forecaster Brooke Bingaman. The visibility in the morning and overnight likely will remain about a quarter of a mile, sometimes less.

A weather system will move into the region, but Bingaman doesn’t expect much wind to blow into the Modesto area. “Then (the fog) just sits there, there’s nothing to scour it out,” she said.

While there won’t be much wind, the weather system this weekend will provide the Modesto area additional moisture. “That’ll just add more fuel to the fog,” Bingaman said.

Telling drivers to turn on their lights isn’t enough during these foggy days, said Lynne Cummerow Kellner. She said a stretch of Crows Landing Road in south Modesto, from the Seventh Street Bridge to Hackett Road, has been simply scary for drivers.

She said it’s hard enough to see when it’s dark, but the fog adds an extra dose of terror.

“Crows Landing can be challenging under the best of circumstances, but it has been terrifying this week in the fog,” Kellner wrote on Facebook. “If this stretch of road could be restriped and have the reflective dots replaced, it would make a lot of people breathe easier.”

This story was originally published January 15, 2015 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Stanislaus officials launch awareness campaign for safe driving in fog."