Dust Storm Safety

[ShallowGal]

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."

My instinct would be, if the locals are getting off the road, I will too; otherwise, I'll keep going--slowly. I'd love to get feedback from you desert creatures who have experienced dust storms.

Thanks!

Chris

[Katjo]

Interesting. Thank you for sharing.

[Mike and Carol]

1 hour ago, ShallowGal said:

"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.” 

On I-10 in AZ and NM they post what to do in a dust storm, same as above.

[ScubaRx]

I think leaving the emergency flashers on is the best idea. 

[John Welte]

1 hour ago, ScubaRx said:

I think leaving the emergency flashers on is the best idea. 

I agree

[Mike and Carol]

1 hour ago, ScubaRx said:

I think leaving the emergency flashers on is the best idea. 

This makes sense to me, too.  But, why would the official guidance be to turn off all lights?

[MAX Burner]

11 minutes ago, Mike and Carol said:

This makes sense to me, too.  But, why would the official guidance be to turn off all lights?

I'll take a stab at Mike's question:

This section of I-10 in western NM is a "mandatory lights ON" stretch of the interstate during all conditions, especially with known dusty conditions in this area.  

So, in low-viz dusty conditions those vehicles with lights ON are the ones presumably driving in one of the lanes and not pulled over.  If one would pull over leaving lights ON, an approaching driver (remember "low-viz") may assume the pulled-over vehicle is moving forward in one of the lanes.  With rate of closure difficult to assess in these conditions - it could lead to a rear-ender.

NM does not allow vehicles to activate flashers when the vehicle is motion, no good really comes out of driving with flashers on - we see this happen here all the time.  But this is not the case in other states where emergency flashers are allowed for moving vehicles.

It may be a stretch, but can't really figure any other logical reason for the state requirement to turn "OFF" all lights when pulled over in these low-viz driving conditions.

 

[mossemi]

2 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

I think leaving the emergency flashers on is the best idea. 

I agree, but only if your flashing lights are amber.  I simple will not follow a driver with flashing red lights because every flash makes me think that they are applying their brakes and I automatically put on my brakes.

Mossey

[ScubaRx]

I should have clarified my statement to say “pull off the road and activate emergency flashers”

I didn’t mean to indicate you should remain in motion. 

[Patriot]

22 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

I think leaving the emergency flashers on is the best idea. 

I agree when parked off the road for higher visibility and especially insurance reasons. 👍🏻

[MAX Burner]

12 minutes ago, Patriot said:

for higher visibility and especially insurance reasons.

100%. ...and for general safety of occupants and passersby.  😅