Road and Traffic Safety Consultant Özgür Şener, evaluating the chain collision involving 7 vehicles, resulting in 10 deaths and 59 injuries on the Sakarya section of the Northern Marmara Motorway, said, “There are also accidents where there is no fog. There are also accidents that happen in broad daylight. Therefore, we cannot say it's solely fog.”
Özgür Şener: “Driving in fog is what we call ‘blind driving.’ There's no need for that. Find a safe spot and pull over to a safe location.”
Şener: “We must now make it a principle to abandon excessive speed. The posted speed limit on the road is just that, a limit. We need to stop trying to exceed that speed.”
Üsküdar University Department of Occupational Health and Safety Lecturer, Road and Traffic Safety Consultant Özgür Şener, evaluated the chain collision involving 7 vehicles, resulting in 10 deaths and 59 injuries on the Sakarya section of the Northern Marmara Motorway, and offered recommendations on driving in fog.
The perception ‘accidents happen due to fog’ is incorrect!
Şener, stating “If organized by taking the necessary precautions, it is naturally impossible for an accident to occur,” stated that the perception of 'accidents happen when there is fog' is incorrect, and continued as follows:
“That is, such a thing does not happen. Then; 'accidents happen when there is fog. Accidents happen when it's dark. Accidents happen when it rains...' We cannot say this. Many parameters need to be considered... Regarding fog, that is, one needs to look at the weather conditions, the driver's condition, the vehicle's condition... If there's an issue with the road, one needs to look at that situation. One needs to look at the positions of other drivers. So, what exactly caused the accident?”
Like a chain reaction…
Therefore, Şener stated that fog alone cannot be said to cause an accident, and explained that in an accident, no single factor can be found, and there could be multiple issues triggering and affecting the accident.
Şener said, “Think of it like a chain reaction. We said fog is one of these factors. ‘If there hadn't been fog, would this accident have happened?’ It might not have. But then we would have to attribute all accidents in Turkey to fog... There are also accidents where there is no fog. There are also accidents that happen in broad daylight. Therefore, we cannot say it's solely fog.”
How to drive in foggy weather?
Özgür Şener also touched upon the topic of how to drive in foggy weather, continuing as follows:
“In foggy weather; when visibility drops below a certain distance and the driver can no longer see the road ahead, unable to observe a distance of almost 10-15 seconds, driving should be terminated. You need to find a safe place. Fog will eventually lift anyway. It's not like snow or ice. If it were ice, salt would need to be spread. If it were snow, it would need to be shoveled, but fog definitely lifts eventually. After half an hour, forty-five minutes, because it's almost an instantaneous thing, like a passing cloud. Driving in fog is what we call ‘blind driving.’ There's no need for that. Find a safe spot and pull your vehicle over to a safe location.
There's no safe spot. You are on the motorway. If the first rest area is far away, you need to turn on your vehicle's fog lights to ensure maximum visibility. You need to reduce your speed. As much as possible, we need to drive in the right lane. By observing ahead from the right lane, driving at lower speeds, because we could still be involved in an accident. There might be a vehicle stopped in front of us that we didn't see, in an uncontrolled spot. We could collide with it, but at least the impact would be less severe.”
Definitely reduce your speed to the minimum level
Özgür Şener pointed out that driving should resume once the fog lifts, and said, “If you are forced to and must continue, definitely reduce your speed to the minimum level. And ensure your visibility, try to drive by looking further ahead.”
Şener also made warnings to drivers, noting the following:
“Individual drivers need to know this: The traffic environment is a hazardous environment. Within this environment, as you see, there are weather conditions. There are other drivers. There can be road-related issues. There can be self-related issues. Instead of saying 'I can do it, I'll go, I'll drive, I'm fine,' one must unequivocally comply with traffic rules and road conditions, control oneself, and terminate driving if truly tired or sleepless.
Speed is the primary cause of traffic accidents in Turkey in the last 10 years
We must follow traffic signs, be aware of dangers ahead on the road, organize our driving accordingly, and make it a principle to abandon excessive speed. That is, whatever the posted speed limit on the road, it is a limit. We need to stop trying to exceed that speed. Because when you look at traffic accidents in Turkey over the last 10 years; not adjusting speed to road and weather conditions has been the primary cause of fatal and injurious accidents for years, speed has been first for years. And when we talk about speed, we are not just talking about high speeds. That is, in a place with a 50-kilometer limit, 60 is also a high speed. In a place marked 100 kilometers, 110 or 120 also means high speed. So, if you are driving at 50 on a road where you should be driving at 30, you are still driving fast. Even if the speed seems low...”