I drove into work this morning through heavy fog. It was heavy enough to prompt schools to go on a two-hour delay, but not so heavy as to make me worry about driving in it. I spent a good chunk of my childhood on the Oregon coast, and one of the many marks that left on me is a deep affection for fog. There's something magical about being able to walk out of the house and be encased in a world all your own, trees appearing out of the mist as individuals for a change rather than part of the massed forest. The world shrinks to just you, and it's something I miss.
I'd said above I wasn't worried about driving in the fog, and that's only partly true. I wasn't worried about my ability to drive in it. Other drivers, on the other hand... well, to begin with I was being cautious because while headlights are visible in fog, deer, dogs, and people who aren't wearing reflective clothing are no so visible, until you're right on top of them. Animals don't know any better. The idiot driving the steel grey minivan with his lights off, on the other hand... And he wasn't the only one who was on the road with no lights. It was morning, but not fully light, and very foggy.
So there was a mix of people on the road this morning. Folks who were driving very cautiously, like the truck I got behind after leaving my house, who proceeded at 25 mph up a 55 mph road. At least he had lights on. Driving that slow in fog with no lights isn't stupidity, it's a suicide pact. Even with lights on, people like him are who cause mass pile-ups in foggy conditions. You can't always tell as you come 'round the bend that the guy ahead is going very slowly. But no lights? That's proper gormless, that is.
Idiots who drive with no lights on, drive veeerrrry slowly, drive too fast for conditions... it's a miracle any of us make it to work in the morning alive. Although I've had mornings I made it to work and wasn't sure I was alive. Moar coffee. My brain let in sommat the fog.