Driving Into A Fog Bank Or Smoke Cloud

Every once in a while you see on the news a huge chain reaction accident occurring within a thick fog bank on highways. One happened a while back in East Texas. 18 wheelers and four wheelers by the dozens all smashed up, with fatalities. I would think it would be prudent upon approaching a heavy fog bank or smoke cloud to pull off the shoulder beforehand and get on the CB and monitor what is going on. If you drive into a fog bank and become part of a pile up, I would imagine that would be considered a preventable accident. Am I right?

I'm not a trucker yet but qith my experience of driving I have had a few times drove in a clear night and out of no where hit thick fog with no warning. .... I think its a 50 50 chance of being a preventable accident. This is just my experience in a car

You have to watch though - pulling off and stopping might be ten times as dangerous as continuing on slowly. I've never once pulled off onto the shoulder because of fog, but I've gone 10 mph at times because of it. You'll want to exit off the highway if it's that bad, but don't stop on the shoulder if you can help it.

And I'm not sure if it would be considered preventable or not.

You have to watch though - pulling off and stopping might be ten times as dangerous as continuing on slowly. I've never once pulled off onto the shoulder because of fog, but I've gone 10 mph at times because of it. You'll want to exit off the highway if it's that bad, but don't stop on the shoulder if you can help it.

LOUDLY AND CLEARLY - I hope I have your attention. Unless there is absolutely no other viable option NEVER pull off onto the shoulder of a highway. Drivers, 4 wheel and otherwise, do not give enough; are too preoccupied; are in too much of a hurry; will be distracted by your vehicle sitting over there; or just plain do not give a damn. It is not worth it...as a firefighter I see it close up and believe me when I tell you working on the highway when we cannot shut it completely down is the most dangerous incident we work.

IMHO, it is best to slow down, get right, exit at next ramp, and find some place safe to park it. Anything else is asking for a wreck and if you are in a wreck as the result of driving in these extremely poor and limited conditions I do believe they should be "at fault" unless of course you are the one being hit.

I agree with avoiding stopping on the shoulder. A friend of mine stopped to help a car on the highway shortly after high school. While he was stopped and helping another car hit them. He was killed. You may be safe in your truck but the car that comes out of nowhere flying into your trailer may not be that lucky.

Thanks for the replies. I was actually referring to a situation where you were in clear weather, and approaching a thick fog bank or smoke cloud and before driving in and suddenly finding basically zero or near zero visibility. Also, I was saying pulling completely off the shoulder, not just parking on it. Sorry I was not more clear. It seems like the massive pile ups are caused by people driving into these fog banks from clear weather and not slowing down near enough. Another example was the big pile up that happened a few years ago in Tennessee due to a river valley fog bank. Scary stuff.

There are areas in the SW that are subject to sudden dust storms in high wind conditions. The road signs warning of those areas often say "Do Not Stop on Shoulder".

Back in Feb, while I was with my trainer still, we hit an are in North Dakota that had snow on the ground, but warmer air had moved in. We went from perfectly clear to heavy fog just like that. I was driving. My trainer told me to slow down and out on my flashers which I did. It lasted a good 30 miles or more, then it was clear again. The scary part was there were both cars and trucks going past me like I was standing still.

So I guess it is just slow way down, turn on your hazard lights, and pray some looney doesn't ram you from behind. I reckon common sense would dictate the best course would be to drive with just enough speed so that you can make an emergency controlled stop in less than the distance you can actually see. That way you are less likely to rear end someone, but if someone hits you, it should not be your fault.