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can any one give me an update on this??

From the article:

"He added: “The accident was a combination of fog and people using their hazard lights. I only escaped with a bruise.” "

What a total Deutsche Douche. How does using Hazard lights cause accidents? If anything it's to warn people of.... guess what... a HAZARD like 40 cars piled up and catching on fire!

Here's a thought... when it's foggy and you can't see 10 metres in front of you... SLOW DOWN!

Khamis I. Mohammad, deputy of traffic and patrol Abu Dhabi police said:

“It was a disaster scene, everyone was speeding and after the first crash happened people just started hitting each other.

There's a surprise....

He also advised people not to use their hazard lights and not to listen to the radio while driving.

But remember it's still compulsory to use your mobile phone whilst driving and any driver caught using indicators legitimately will be penalised.

There's actually some kind of weird obsession going on with drivers who use hazard lights when it is foggy like it is a bad thing.

Not every car is equipped with fog lights, and I actually find it helpful to see the hazard lights through the fog instead of the the rear end of a car appearing out of nowhere.

There is only one cause for an accident like this, and that is speeding. And I don't mean speeding as in exceeding the speed limit, I mean speeding in excess of what could be deemed safe.

^ian^ wrote:There's actually some kind of weird obsession going on with drivers who use hazard lights when it is foggy like it is a bad thing.

Not every car is equipped with fog lights, and I actually find it helpful to see the hazard lights through the fog instead of the the rear end of a car appearing out of nowhere.

I agree mate.
can you tell me the best radio station to get travel news??
do you reckon the roads will be clear comming back from A.D yet?

Sad thing is, I donot expect anybody to learn from this.

i saw the aftermath of the pileup, bu tnot the pileup itself.... the roads were rediculous.

Just posted some pics of the pile up, it was frigthening, never imagined it could end up like this because of the "fog"...

reviewer wrote:Just posted some pics of the pile up, it was frigthening, never imagined it could end up like this because of the "fog"...

It's not because of the Fog... it's because of the reckless and stupid driving.

^ian^ wrote:

reviewer wrote:Just posted some pics of the pile up, it was frigthening, never imagined it could end up like this because of the "fog"...

It's not because of the Fog... it's because of the reckless and stupid driving.

Yes, dear I understood the real cause was speeding, thats why I put the word fog inside a quote mark.... ....Moving on....

^ian^ wrote:There's actually some kind of weird obsession going on with drivers who use hazard lights when it is foggy like it is a bad thing.

Not every car is equipped with fog lights, and I actually find it helpful to see the hazard lights through the fog instead of the the rear end of a car appearing out of nowhere.

Two immediate reasons I can think of why people shouldn't use their hazzard lights.

One is because you can't tell when somebody is going to change lanes and cut infront of you, although that's kind of just a supposition because the chances of half the UAE road users don't know what the indicator is for.

the second reason almost caused me to crash today.
Driving to work through the usual blink blink of the hazzard lights I came accross a particularly thick patch of fog.
Being a sensible kind of guy I (fortunately) wasn't going fast. A set of hazzard lights suddenly appeared in front of me (in the middle lane) and I slowed down as they didn't appear to be moving very fast.
Suddenly it became apparent that they were not moving at all. the bus that they belonged to had hit the back of a car and they were actually stopped.
If people didn't use their hazzards instead of their normal lights than I would have known that the hazzards were for an actual hazzard.

What a big disaster

CVB wrote:

^ian^ wrote:There's actually some kind of weird obsession going on with drivers who use hazard lights when it is foggy like it is a bad thing.

Not every car is equipped with fog lights, and I actually find it helpful to see the hazard lights through the fog instead of the the rear end of a car appearing out of nowhere.

Two immediate reasons I can think of why people shouldn't use their hazzard lights.

One is because you can't tell when somebody is going to change lanes and cut infront of you, although that's kind of just a supposition because the chances of half the UAE road users don't know what the indicator is for.

the second reason almost caused me to crash today.
Driving to work through the usual blink blink of the hazzard lights I came accross a particularly thick patch of fog.
Being a sensible kind of guy I (fortunately) wasn't going fast. A set of hazzard lights suddenly appeared in front of me (in the middle lane) and I slowed down as they didn't appear to be moving very fast.
Suddenly it became apparent that they were not moving at all. the bus that they belonged to had hit the back of a car and they were actually stopped.
If people didn't use their hazzards instead of their normal lights than I would have known that the hazzards were for an actual hazzard.

Er... a hazard is still a hazard. Whether the bus was going 0 ro 30 k/h you needed to take action.

What would have happened if they didn't have any hazard lights on at all?

im with ian, i encountered such thick fog on the way back from dubai once, and hazard lights were the only plausable way to tell if there's someone infront of you.

if its such conditions, you shouldnt be changing lanes, swirving in and out, move in a straight line where you can see the person infront of you at bay and keep triple your distance that you'd normally keep and for fcks sakes SLOW THE FCK DOWN

people were flying past at speeds upwards of 120, and i witnessed at least 6 isolated accidents on the road that night.

craig in dubai said it best, people here in a great hurry to speed their life away..

^ian^ wrote:There's actually some kind of weird obsession going on with drivers who use hazard lights when it is foggy like it is a bad thing.

I admit that I subscibe to this weird obsession.
Because people who use there hazard lights in the fog are the same idiots who:
don't use their indicators to change lanes,
flash their high beam at people from 1 kilometer away to tell them to get out of the way,
cross 6 lanes of traffic to exit the freeway from the fast lane
let their kids jump all around the car with no seat belt
all while talking on their mobile phone

Using your logic, if hazard lights are for when you pose a hazard, perhaps these drivers should use them permanently.

I agree that speed is the cause of accidents in fog.
However there is no need for hazard lights if you are travelling at a safe speed and can see the cars in front of you. Encouraging the use of them in fog only encourages people to go faster.

Unfortunately, I will spend the next week at work deleting emails from the same idiots who use their hazard lights in fog, containing pictures of severed and chared bodies from the accident.

ebonics wrote:and hazard lights were the only plausable way to tell if there's someone infront of you.

What about putting bright blue and red flashing lights on the roof of every car. You'd see them better in fog then, and you could speed up. Perhaps smaller ones could be incorporated into special hats for pedestrians to wear on their heads during fog also

If you can't see a car in front of you unless they've got hazard lights on, then you're driving too fast. If the fog is so thick you have to stop, then stop.

That crash today no doubt happened because of people driving too fast for the conditions but I bet drivers who had their hazard lights on were a contributing factor. As soon as the first accident happened, what could following cars do to warn people behind them, if they already had their hazard lights on? Switch them off?

There is a good reason why the UAE police keep saying do not drive with your hazard lights on in fog (or rain).

I'm going to back Ian up on the hazard light issue, and that if you DON'T HAVE FOG LIGHTS ON YOUR CAR!!!!! Better use something that will allow you to be seen, than nothing at all.

There are no fog lights on my car at all!!!

I'm not surprised at the accident and quite frankly have no sympathy for the morons who caused it or were involved, because clearly they still don't know how to drive in adverse weather conditions and carry on driving like idiots.

They won't learn!

Until next time!

Chocoholic wrote:Better use something that will allow you to be seen, than nothing at all.

And what should camels use so they can be seen clearly in fog? What about bicycles? And vehicles without hazard lights?

If you cannot see a 2 ton object in front of you because it doesn't have flashing lights, then you are driving too fast.

Chocoholic wrote:I'm not surprised at the accident and quite frankly have no sympathy for the morons who caused it or were involved, because clearly they still don't know how to drive in adverse weather conditions and carry on driving like idiots.

You're being a little harsh on yourself I feel but then people are often their own worst critics.

bonk wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:Better use something that will allow you to be seen, than nothing at all.

And what should camels use so they can be seen clearly in fog? Bicycles? Vehicles without hazard lights?

If you cannot see a 2 ton object in front of you because it doesn't have flashing lights, then you are driving too fast.

I'm not worried about me driving too fast, I'm worried about the idiot behind me. I'm doing it to protect myself, not them. If I was riding a bicycle in fog, I would have an orange flashy light. If I was a camel on SZR in fog, I would definitely want orange flashy lights.

bonk wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:I'm not surprised at the accident and quite frankly have no sympathy for the morons who caused it or were involved, because clearly they still don't know how to drive in adverse weather conditions and carry on driving like idiots.

You're being a little harsh on yourself I feel but then people are often their own worst critics.

Well, I think it is doubtless speed caused the accident, but I don't think any hazard lights contributed to the accident, possibly prevented some people crashing actually.

In the absence of anything to say "hey watch out I am here!" in pea soup fog, you can bet I will have my hazard lights on.

^ian^ wrote:In the absence of anything to say "hey watch out I am here!" in pea soup fog, you can bet I will have my hazard lights on.

Righto. Just like 198 cars on the Abu Dhabi highway today who, by driving with their hazard lights on, therefore switched off their option of saying "hey watch out there's been a crash in front of me."

Do you honestly think that your hazard lights make any difference to the fool coming up your rear end at 150 km per hour?

They do however make a difference to the sensible driver behind you doing 30 km per hour ... when you switch them on to say there's been a crash in front of you.

Bonk, you have to realise that many of these heavy vehicles, hardly have any lights that work at all - let alone fog or hazard lights, many of them are dark in colour and you literally will not see them until they're right in front of your bonnet - no matter how slow you're going. These guys are a serious danger on the roads in most conditions let alone fog.

If the fog is that bad, I'd actually prefer not to even consider getting into my car until it's lifted.

Hey I'm used to driving in all sorts of weather conditions, but you have to bear in mind some people here will never have experienced fog or rain and simply don't know how to behave in adverse weather.

Most people here rarely look beyond the end of their bonnet at the best of times.

So Bonk, go on tell me! I have no fog lights on my car! What should I do? Wait until someone climbs in my boot?

Chocoholic wrote:So Bonk, go on tell me! I have no fog lights on my car! What should I do? Wait until someone climbs in my boot?

Correct. You should smile as the Rangerover Sports limited going at 200 Kph bisects your car straight down the middle.

This whole argument of hazard lights cause accidents is the biggest load of laughable bollocks ever.

So it pisses people off who have fog lights. Big freaking deal, it does stop accidents. Specifically, it will stop someone running in to me or someone close, which lets face it chumps, is all I freaking care about... since that's all you care about.

Chocoholic wrote:So Bonk, go on tell me! I have no fog lights on my car! What should I do?

Switch on your normal lights. I have no fog lights either and that's what I do.

As for the trucks with no lights, I agree they're a menace, but I don't understand how you driving with your hazard lights on makes them safer.

^ian^ wrote:Specifically, it will stop someone running in to me

I don't expect it will make any difference to me since I plan to be far enough behind you to stop if you get into trouble.

I don't expect it will make any difference to the lunatic doing 100+ since he will run into you if you stop, even if you have a lighthouse welded to the roof of your car. But anyway, usually they're in the fast lane so if you stay out of that, you improve your chances of not getting hit by them.

It will make a difference to the guy going 35 kph instead of 30 kph, or travelling 10 car lengths behind you instead of 11 car lengths. When you stop suddenly for whatever reason, you won't be able to warn them, they'll drive another 20m before they figure out you've actually stopped and it'll be too late, they'll crash in to you. If he had his hazard lights on, he won't be able to warn the car behind him who might crash into him, and so on and so on ...

Those drivers aren't the ones tearing down the highway in rocketships, they're the ordinary drivers like you and me who might be distracted momentarily - a kid in the back whines about something, change the CD, the radio station, look at the phone to see who's ringing, clean that smudge on the windscreen, grab a tissue because you're about to sneeze. In fog you can't afford to take your eyes off the road for a second, unlike in clear day where you have a much greater awareness of what's happening around you.

^ian^ wrote:So it pisses people off who have fog lights.

I don't have fog lights. It annoys me because it means those drivers have disabled their emergency warning system.

Chocoholic wrote:Bonk, you have to realise that many of these heavy vehicles, hardly have any lights that work at all - let alone fog or hazard lights, many of them are dark in colour and you literally will not see them until they're right in front of your bonnet - no matter how slow you're going. These guys are a serious danger on the roads in most conditions let alone fog.

If the fog is that bad, I'd actually prefer not to even consider getting into my car until it's lifted.

Hey I'm used to driving in all sorts of weather conditions, but you have to bear in mind some people here will never have experienced fog or rain and simply don't know how to behave in adverse weather.

Most people here rarely look beyond the end of their bonnet at the best of times.

Hey Chocs I agree about the lousy truck lighting. 100% However, fog lights are an option on light vehicles. The rear ones are exceptionally crappy as they look like brake lights.

Hazard lights/flashers are for STATIONARY HAZARDS, they are not "hey I might drive like an asshole" lights. How many times have you been lapped in fog by a guy doing 140 with the hazards going?

People that drive with hazard lights on when it is rainy/foggy should be shot......especially when they are driving faster than conditions allow.

bonk wrote:I don't have fog lights. It annoys me because it means those drivers have disabled their emergency warning system.

Next to the hazard lights... there's these things called brake lights.

They only come on when you put your foot on the brake pedal.

dubaidog wrote:People that drive with hazard lights on when it is rainy/foggy should be shot......especially when they are driving faster than conditions allow.

Dumbest, comment, ever.

Retards should be shot first, then the rest of us wouldn't have to worry about... well... anything.