Expressing deep concern at increasing road accidents and vehicle pile-ups due to fog, a Geneva-based global body, International Road Federation (IRF) has urged the government to make rear and front fog lights compulsory in all the automobiles. Though the fog lights are necessarily needed in the hilly and fog-prone areas, it is not possible to monitor all the vehicles to guarantee that only those with the fog lights drive to the fog-prone areas. Therefore, as the IRF said, it becomes very important to provide the front and rear fog lights on all the vehicles.
"The Worldwide research has shown that increased visibility between vehicles reduces crash risk by more than 30 percent, especially during foggy months of December to February and in the hilly areas. Foggy conditions pose threat to motorists, and a law to make both front and rear fog lights mandatory, could help reduce the risk of road crashes caused by poor visibility. Fog lights are extremely useful during conditions of poor visibility caused by rain, fog, dust or snow," said K K Kapila, the Chairman of International Road Federation (IRF).
IRF, the Geneva-based organization working for better and safer roads, said that the automated vehicle lights and fog lights that are switched on during low visibility conditions reduce the risk of crashes to a great extent. Currently, the consumers get the rear and front fog lamps after they have purchased from the dealers just to ensure themselves that they are safe while driving in a fog-prone area.
The fog lights emit a low beam of light in the downward direction at the road surface, which helps to prevent diffraction of the light, while the normal headlights shoot broad beam which gets passed easily through the water particles of the fog, thereby reducing the visibility for the drivers.
The IRF has also emphasized on the need for mobile weather stations and warning signals on the road so as to alert the drivers about the fog conditions ahead. The organization also spoke about the technology that can sense the fog and switch on the lights automatically. This technology can be very effective to reduce the number of road accidents seen every year, especially during the foggy days.