Bikers beware! Fog season is upon us…

We recently reminded you (perhaps, rather cruelly) that the clocks have gone back and many of us are now commuting home in darkness. Sorry to remind you about that, but it’s relevant in terms of bikers and motorbike accidents that can be caused by other road users who fail to account for the worsening weather.

On that topic, let’s talk fog. We touched on it in a recent article when we mentioned whether any of you had been across the peaks around this time of year when it’s likely you’ll see no further than 30 or so feet in front of you.

The issue with fog is that it presents yet another danger for riders, and it’s one that needs to be addressed. As we always say, the worsening weather is not an acceptable excuse for reckless driving.

Bikes can be harder to see in the dark despite the dazzling lights because the small bike itself is nowhere near as visible as a larger reflective vehicle. You could argue that bikers can be more visible at night because of the bright headlight, but fog can certainly hamper that. With the thick greyness making even the brightest of lights hard to see at short distances, there is only ever one rule that drivers must stick to: slow down and take more care!

There is never any acceptable reason for chancing it. If you can’t see far in front of you on account of the density of fog, all road users must slow right down – to way below the speed limit where applicable – to avoid an accident.

At just 30mph, the average stopping distance is 75ft. If you can’t see more than 40ft in front of you, you’ve just lost over half of that distance; the equivalent of three quarters of your overall thinking distance at roughly 30ft. That means if there is a vehicle shrouded in fog that’s even 100ft away from you, you are statistically going to hit it based on the above when driving at 30mph in thick fog.

To be fair, we don’t really need to analyse stopping distances to know what’s obvious. All road users must simply slow down in fog – especially in heavy fog – to the point where you can stop almost right away. This is how to avoid accidents and there’s no excuse for failing to take more care in fog.

Motorbike riders are, as always, in greater danger. There is far, far, far less reflective surface area for a vehicle headlight to catch. As such, that moment when a driver suddenly spots a biker is probably going to be far later than when they suddenly spot a car or other larger vehicle.

There is no excuse for any road user failing to account for the weather and the road conditions when it comes to navigating the highways safely. If you, as a rider, are injured because of another careless road user in fog, the normal rules of the road apply, and you can make a claim without the worry of “it was foggy” being a valid excuse.