I saw this on the Oliver forum, and while it sounds counterintuitive, it may be the right thing to do…
This article is in the latest edition of Camper Report & was an eye opener for me. Living in muggy Florida my entire life, & fortunately during all our travels, I have never experienced a true dust storm. A few other subtropical friends were also unaware of some of the tips in this article so I thought it worthy of sharing.
Many of the tips are common sense but this one surprised me:
"The National Weather Service has a protocol for people who are on the road when a dust storm arrives. They advise drivers to, “pull your vehicle off the pavement as far as possible, stop, turn off lights, set the emergency brake, take your foot off of the brake pedal to be sure the tail lights are not illuminated.”
It might sound counterintuitive to turn off your lights because usually, you want people to know where you are. But in a low-visibility situation, it’s best to turn off your lights once you pull off the road. This prevents other drivers from seeing your lights and veering off the road to follow you."
That led me to research other low/zero visibility situations on the NWS website. They recommend doing the same in zero visibility fog with the exception to leave hazard lights on.
"If there is no parking lot or driveway to pull into, pull your vehicle off to the side of the road as far as possible. Once you come to a stop, turn off all lights except your hazard flashing lights, set the emergency brake, and take your foot off of the brake pedal to be sure the tail lights are not illuminated so that other drivers don't mistakenly run into you."
Click on the underscored to read the entire article.
This article is in the latest edition of Camper Report & was an eye opener for me. Living in muggy Florida my entire life, & fortunately during all our travels, I have never experienced a true dust storm. A few other subtropical friends were also unaware of some of the tips in this article so I thought it worthy of sharing.
Many of the tips are common sense but this one surprised me:
"The National Weather Service has a protocol for people who are on the road when a dust storm arrives. They advise drivers to, “pull your vehicle off the pavement as far as possible, stop, turn off lights, set the emergency brake, take your foot off of the brake pedal to be sure the tail lights are not illuminated.”
It might sound counterintuitive to turn off your lights because usually, you want people to know where you are. But in a low-visibility situation, it’s best to turn off your lights once you pull off the road. This prevents other drivers from seeing your lights and veering off the road to follow you."
That led me to research other low/zero visibility situations on the NWS website. They recommend doing the same in zero visibility fog with the exception to leave hazard lights on.
"If there is no parking lot or driveway to pull into, pull your vehicle off to the side of the road as far as possible. Once you come to a stop, turn off all lights except your hazard flashing lights, set the emergency brake, and take your foot off of the brake pedal to be sure the tail lights are not illuminated so that other drivers don't mistakenly run into you."
Click on the underscored to read the entire article.
