Best Practices to follow safe driving techniques during foggy weather conditions
As winter begins, so does the foggy weather. Here are some tips that are useful when travelling through the roads and highways, when travelling under foggy weather conditions.
You'd have seen news or videos of massive accidents involving multiple vehicles on the highways under heavy a fog with poor visibility. In such foggy weather, it is wise to drive slow as poor visibility will only increase the chances of a collision or accident.
Despite this being an obvious common-sense thing, time and again, instances of such chain accidents with multi-vehicle pile-ups in foggy weather just keep happening, with two such incidents happening within just two days.
The most recent one happened today, early morning on 16 December 2025 at around 4:00 AM on the Yamuna expressway in Uttar Pradesh, which killed 13 people and injured many others. The terrible accident happened on the Agra–Noida stretch of the Yamuna expressway in Mathura district, when there was extremely low visibility that was caused by a dense fog covering the area. This accident involved 7 or 8 buses and 3 cars, and the collision triggered a fire that burned the vehicles and people.
Another recent incident being a massive 20-car pile-up on the Mumbai-Delhi Expressway due to dense fog, which occurred just yesterday on 15 December 2025 at 05:00 AM, killing 4 people and leaving several others injured.
So, keep in mind that driving in foggy weather is not something to be taken lightly. Below are the travel tips to drive safely during foggy conditions on the highways.
Foggy Weather Driving Tips
First of all, before you begin the journey, if the conditions are too foggy, better wait till the fog clears or pick another time or day if possible if it doesn't reduce or clear soon enough.
If you still really need to make that journey, or if the fog appeared or increased after you're already on the way, then read the below tips.
- Keep more distance between your vehicle and the one before you, which will give you more room to stop.
- Strictly follow lane driving and maintain a safe distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead.
- Drive slowly. The fog may cause an illusion that you're moving slow, so keep checking your speedometer and slow down if you're moving faster. (The NHAI suggests to drive at the speed of 30 km/hr or less to ensure adequate visibility for stopping the vehicle safely.)
- Drive with headlights and tail lamps on. Use only low-beam headlights. Do not use high beams as they can reflect off the fog and worsen the visibility.
- If your vehicle has fog lamps, then keep them turned on.
- Use signals early. If you have to turn or change lanes, give the right/left indicator signal early to give other drivers behind you adequate time to see and realise it. Turning it on just before you take a turn is always a bad practice.
- Use Wipers and Defroster (if your vehicle has this feature). Keep your windshield glass clear of moisture and fogging.
- Roll down your windows slightly so that you can hear any approaching vehicle sounds from the outside.
- Do not play loud music as they not only cause distraction but may also prevent you from hearing the vehicles outside.
- Do not use your cellphones or mobile phones (well, this one holds true when driving under any kind of weather condition).
- Avoid overtaking other vehicles.
- If the fog is too thick and visibility becomes too low, go safely off the road wherever possible and wait for conditions to improve. Use the blinking hazard lights when stopped. (NHAI suggests that you don’t park vehicles on the Highway, and park only at designated locations such as truck lay bays or wayside amenities.)
- In case of a commercial vehicle, NHAI suggests to install reflective tapes on it, in full width of the vehicle, which includes white tape on front and red coloured tape at the rear of the vehicle.
Things to ensure before the journey
In addition to that, there are some things you need to do before even beginning your journey.
- Check and Ensure that all your vehicle's lights and wipers are working. If not, get them fixed beforehand.
- Have your vehicle's tyres checked and ensure that they're safe to tread on wet surface, as the moisture from the fog may keep the roads slippery.
- Have your vehicle's brakes checked more often in winter or cold weather.
- This is because cold weather can significantly impact your vehicle's braking efficiency by thickening brake fluid, stiffening pads, increasing corrosion from road salt, (and if in a much colder area, it may also cause moisture to freeze components). All these factors can cause a sluggish braking response and longer stopping distances.
- In short, get your vehicle serviced and have all the necessary elements checked.
- Always check the weather before travelling. Check for weather warnings like fog or foggy conditions in the region you're planning to travel through.
We hope these few tips help you to make a safe journey in foggy weather. Just remember that it is better late than never.
- Delhi-Agra Expressway crash: 13 killed, 25 injured in massive pile-up; PM Modi announces ex-gratia - Moneycontrol, Moneycontrol City Desk, December 16, 2025 / 12:54 IST.
- 13 Burnt To Death In Multi-Car Pile-Up On Delhi-Agra Expressway Amid Fog - NDTV, Edited by: Anwesha Singh. Published On Dec 16, 2025 07:18 am IST. Last Updated On Dec 16, 2025 14:56 pm IST.
- Video: 4 Dead In 20-Car Pile-Up On Mumbai-Delhi Expressway Due To Dense Fog - NDTV, Edited by: Anwesha Singh. Published On Dec 15, 2025 13:28 pm IST. Last Updated On Dec 15, 2025 13:39 pm IST.
- NHAI Takes Measures to Enhance Visibility Due to Foggy Conditions - Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, on PIB. Posted On: 15 DEC 2025 5:04PM by PIB Delhi.