Huge Pileup: Driving Blind in Dense Fog

Re “41 Hurt in 198-Vehicle Smashup,” Nov. 4: I’ve seen drivers go 70 mph and even 80 mph in fog so dense you couldn’t see 10 feet. If you slow down, you are in danger of getting hit from the rear. If you go the same speed as these crazy people, you are endangering your own life and everyone who may be driving slowly and sanely in front of you. What are these fogbound fast drivers thinking? That everyone will keep up the same speed? If they were suddenly blinded would they keep driving? I was taught not to overdrive my lights at night, which means don’t drive faster than you can see.

My answers to this problem: (1) Don’t drive at all in the fog. Pull over and let the insane people have the road. (2) Have the California Highway Patrol escort cars, at about 20 mph, through dense fog, as it has done at times. (3) Mount a massive advertising campaign to show people how dangerous it is to overdrive one’s vision. I still can’t believe that people are so stupid that they don’t slow down when they can’t see. Of course, these are the same people who follow one car length behind at 70 mph and who speed up in the rain.

Roger Angle

Culver City