Travel Advisory for Foggy Days in the Winter (Manama)

This morning was the first day we witnessed a layer of fog in parts of Bahrain. As the cooler weather of fall and winter seasons arrive, we will see increase numbers of days with reduced visibility due to fog.

Fog produces a combination of wet, slippery pavement and reduced visibility. Adverse visibility conditions dramatically increase the risk of chain reaction accidents. Fog promotes accidents by means of “Aerial perspective," a visual effect that causes people to misjudge distance.
Normally the driver has an expectation that cars do not stop on freeways. The driver may then fail to realize that the car ahead is stopped until it is too late. Fog lowers contrast substantially, causing objects to become fainter and less distinct. Faintly seeing a car ahead will be very difficult to detect that it has stopped because the lower contrast impairs speed judgments.

The following tips can help reduce the risk of a crash:
Start early and always wear your seat belt
Reduce speed and Maintain distance in between vehicles so that you can stop safely within the distance you can see.
Switch on fog lights if available
Use low-beam lights to see and be seen.
Do not use high beam lights.
Do not use the emergency lights while driving to avoid confusion at the time of turning to Left or Right.
Try to avoid unnecessary lane changes.
Try to avoid over taking vehicles
Avoid sudden stops and turns.
Signal your intentions well in advance.
Use the windshield wipers and defroster to keep the windshield clear
Pull off the road as far as possible and stop if visibility is too poor turn on the emergency lights.