Lorries banned from Abu Dhabi city in foggy weather, police warn

Forecasters warn of low visibility along the UAE coast. Christopher Pike / The National

ABU DHABI // Police have warned lorry drivers they are prohibited from travelling through Abu Dhabi city in heavy fog and should pull over somewhere safe and wait for conditions to clear.

“Trucks and heavy vehicles are not allowed to enter Abu Dhabi during peak hours in the morning and in heavy fog ,” said Col Jamal Al Ameri, head of public relations at Abu Dhabi Police’s traffic and patrols directorate. “They need to stop on the side of the road and wait for the fog to clear until visibility improves.”

Foggy mornings continues to disrupt traffic, causing accidents across the country.

On Tuesday, the traffic authority reported two accidents on Sheikh Zayed Road in Abu Dhabi. They warned commuters not to speed even when they think that the road is opening up.

“The main danger of driving in fog is the inability to see far enough ahead to drive safely and the disorientating effect that the lack of visibility can create,” said Phil Clarke, principal road safety consultant at Transport Research Laboratory UAE.

"Driving too fast to be able to react in time to vehicles ahead travelling slowly, which are stationary or in the event of an accident, are all common in the UAE, hence the fact that there are frequently multi-vehicle accidents when it is foggy."

Col Ameri also urged all drivers, particularly lorry drivers, to reduce their speed gradually, use low-beam headlights, not to turn on their hazard lights, and maintain a safe following distance when driving in dense fog.

Foggy conditions are likely to persist across some western areas with decreased visibility, forecasters at the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology said. Heavy fog will continue to cover interior and coastal areas with visibility reduced to less than 100m in some places.

“In foggy conditions there is a tendency for some drivers to keep driving at the same speed, but switch on their hazard warning lights,” Mr Clarke said. “Hazard warning lights make it difficult to tell if a vehicle is moving or stationary in fog.”

Switching on hazard warning lights does not improve one’s visibility or provide immunity to being involved in an accident, he said.

“If it is so foggy that drivers feel the need to switch them on, they should instead just slow down, keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front and use their normal lights and fog lights, if their vehicle has them,” Mr Clarke said.

With limited visibility, driving lorries through fog can be very dangerous.

In January 2015, 20 people were injured in a 114-vehicle pileup, including a lorry and a worker's bus, on the Shahama-Mafraq highway heading out of Abu Dhabi after dense fog blanketed parts of the UAE.

Abu Dhabi Police blamed fog for a crash between a workers' bus and a lorry that killed an Arab expatriate in October 2015. Seven Asian expats sustained minor injuries in the incident, which occurred on the Abu Dhabi to Al Sila Road.

“Large vehicles are a particular problem because they can be more difficult to see, especially long vehicles which are turning,” Mr Clarke said. “If they are involved in an accident, the consequences can be worse because of their size and weight. They also have a habit of platooning in lane one and driving too close to one another.”

More police patrols and restricting lorries and heavy vehicles from using the emirate's roads are among the measures being implemented by Abu Dhabi Police's traffic and patrols directorate during foggy weather. However, drivers flout the traffic laws.

Eight-hundred lorry drivers were penalised for driving in fog and for other traffic law violations, Abu Dhabi police said at the weekend.

The move follows a road safety awareness initiative aimed at reducing the number of traffic accidents involving lorries and heavy vehicles on the Abu Dhabi-Ghweifat motorway.

Lorries and heavy goods vehicles should be equipped with the proper anti-hazard equipment, and drivers should postpone travel until the fog clears up, said Sonal Ahuja, regional director of PTV Group, which provides software and consultancy services for traffic and transport planning.

“They must slow down and avoid using hazard lights,” he said. “They need to abide by the traffic rules.”

Awareness messages should be broadcast over the radio about the dangers of driving through thick fog and how to stay safe on the roads, he said.

Although some drivers are paid a fixed monthly fee, many are paid for the hours they work or the trips they complete.

“Fleet managers, operators and drivers all have a responsibility to ensure that their transport operations are run with safety as paramount,” Mr Clarke said.

“Drivers should not be put under pressure to drive more quickly, for longer than is safe, or without adequate rest breaks. This can happen for commercial reasons and is unacceptable as drivers who are tired and driving too fast represent an additional represent an additional risk in foggy conditions.”