Driving through the desert can be quite a thrilling and beautiful experience indeed. However, it can be quite dangerous, as high winds can instigate a weather event known as a dust storm, which are impossible to safely drive through. If you happen to be driving through the desert and experience a dust storm, here’s some essential safety tips prepared by Chicago Towing.
Stay Calm
Make sure to stay calm so you can safely get to a good spot and avoid driving erratically, which can potentially cause an accident especially if there are other scared drivers on the road.
Pull Over
Check your car’s blind spots, and pull over to the roadside. If you have a good enough amount of distance between you and the dust storm, try to get off the highway completely at the nearest off ramp. If you’re driving on side streets, get cover inside a carport or inside an indoor parking garage. The best thing to do when driving in a dust storm is to get off the open roads. If you can’t pull over, just make sure to slow down.
Turn off your lights
If you’ve stopped moving, turn off your car’s lights. Since in low visibility situations many drivers use the lights of the cars in front of them to determine their path, they might assume your car is moving if they see your lights, and potentially rear end you.
Check out the weather station
Listen for any dust storm warnings – these are issued when the stormwinds reach over 30mph, or if the visibility covers less than half a mile. Listen for any information describing how intense the storm is going to be, how far it’s radius is, and how long it’s expected to last. The majority of dust storms only last a few minutes, but sometimes they can last for over an hour. Make sure to wait out the dust storm until you’re certain you can safely drive again.
Getting Back on the Road
Make sure to carefully get back on the road once the dust storm is over, as usually rainfall follows dust storms. Make sure to drive at an appropriate speed and with tons of discernment as you get to where you need to be traveling.
