~~
Wednesday 3rd 26F/-3C overcast, almost calm with a distant mist. Hoar frost has sugar coated everything overnight.
Thick mist had descended by the time I left just after 8.30.Total invisibility of vehicles beyond less than 80 yards. I left the road early to use the frozen spray tracks up to the woods. Back along the marsh where a noisy goose alarmed a solitary duck on the pond. The opposite bank was too soft focus to make out anything.
Back on the road, I started counting vehicles again. The mist had now thinned to 120 yards complete invisibility. Only six out of 30 vehicles had rear fog lights showing. Two vans had faulty lighting with only the nearside lit. Two vans were driving with no lights at all.
In the afternoon I had to fetch more fuel for the stove. Just as I was crawling out of the drive, very carefully, a car approached at high speed, out of the thick mist, showing no lights at all. I managed to pull the bonnet back in but it was very close.
I followed them for a couple miles until I reached my turning. I even flashed them a couple of times without any reaction. They turned right without indicating at a major junction.
Just for clarity: It is illegal to drive without dipped headlights at any time of day and night in Denmark. It is also a requirement, in many countries, to drive on dipped headlights and showing rear fog lights in reduced visibility. Judging from my own small sample only 1 in 5 drivers use their rear fog lights. One in 15 drive without any lights even in thick fog. Few drivers adjust their speed for the poor conditions.
~~
No comments:
Post a Comment