Traffic advisory issued amid fog warning

Visibility drops to 120 metres on Islamabad-Lahore Motorway

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD:  

Like other parts of Punjab, the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad experienced dense fog on Thursday morning, which reduced visibility to almost 120 metres only.

In a bid to remain safe during the spell of dense fog in the province, the traffic watchdogs issued travel advisory for road users. Rawalpindi City Traffic Police (CTP) and National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) in separate messages warned motorists to use fog-lamps and advised people to go out only if it was extremely necessary.

CTP has also launched an awareness campaign for the prevention of accidents during fog.

Following the directions of Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Muhammad Bin Ashraf, the education wing has started the campaign to guide the road users as to how they can avoid accidents during the low-visibility hours.

CTP teams distributed pamphlets regarding safe driving during foggy weather.

The advisory urged the road users to keep speed slow while maintaining safe distance with the vehicle ahead.

The motorists have been advised to keep fog lights on and be vigilant while driving.

In the case of non-functioning fog lights, the advisory suggested using parking, headlights or hazard warning lights flashing to become visible to the approaching motorists on the road. The road users have been asked to avoid traveling during fog however even if it was done, they should be very careful while driving as the major cause of most of the accidents during the foggy weather has been a violation of traffic rules.

In this regard, CTO advised the citizens to take precautionary measures as well as abide by the traffic rules to avoid any mishap.

He said the road users should follow the set rules and principles which were required to be followed so that other motorists don’t face any problem as well.

Further, National Highway and Motorway Police (NHMP) also issued a travel advisory for the road users using motorways.

The spokesperson NHMP said that the road from Islamabad to Kot Momin remained engulfed in fog since early morning on Thursday and the visibility was reduced to only 150 metres.

He added the fog spell would continue and will get denser with the time. Therefore, MHNP suggested avoiding unnecessary travelling on the motorways particularly during late night and morning hours as it would increase the chances of accidents.

The motorists could call MHNP Helpline 130 or use Hamsafar mobile application as well as tune into FM 95 radio run by MHNP to remain updated regarding the fog condition on the route they were using. 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2019.