BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — It's the kind of fog that swallows the road whole — where seeing just 10 feet ahead feels impossible, and even the most confident drivers slow to a crawl. The tule fog is persistent in Kern County, and here's what you need to know to stay safe when every mile is a challenge.
Californians normally experience the tule fog during fall and winter mornings. Making some drives harder than normal and causing more accidents than average.
Eric Scott CHP Officer in Bakersfield Area said "You see people trying to use their high beams or hazard lights. Stay away from both of those, and just use your low beam lights. You don't want to use the high beams cause it can cause reflection from the beams off the mist in the air. Same thing for hazard lights, you don't want to use those cause they can cause confusion among other drivers."
Officer Scott tells 23ABC that the hazard lights are used for emergencies and while the fog can be scary it isn't an emergency and can misinform other drivers around you.
"If you're driving down the roadway and you activate your hazard lights some people might think that you are stop in the roadway but you aren't. When you are still moving people might think it's your turn signals but you're really not turning just proceeding straight." said Scott
If drivers do see the need to pull over Officer Scott advises that you keep your hazard lights on so other drivers notice you on the side of the road.
"You don't want to be driving if you don't know what's ahead of you. The visibility just shrinks down from a few hundred feet, to maybe just 50 feet. We want everybody to be safe so they can get to their destination." said Scott
Officer Scott wants to remind drivers to leave earlier than normal if they are going to drive in the fog. Give yourself some extra time to take it slow.
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