We were out and about in the car on Monday and found ourselves caught in a rainstorm that brought the worst visibility I have ever — wait for it — seen. On the highway, with no place to pull over safely, I slowed down, put on the hazard lights, and navigated by following the white stripe between our lane and the shoulder. That was literally all I could see to make sense of things. When we were able to exit, we did, and we got to a McDonald’s right before the doors were locked. Why? A tornado warning, and there was just enough room for everyone in the building to shelter in the bathrooms if necessary. (It wasn’t.)
I think it’s good advice to share: when in doubt, follow the white stripe. It’s also helpful in thick fog and when an oncoming driver has insanely bright headlights. Follow the white stripe.
A related post
Turn on your hazard lights
[Post title with apologies to Jack or Meg.]
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
The white stripe
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comments: 7
When I was a kid, I lived in a very hilly area that frequently had dense fog, either on the hills or in the valleys. Regardless, if another one of us kids had an evening school activity, we had to go pick them up – five miles away. While a parent drove, one of us kids (such as me... many vivid memories of this) would hang out the passenger-side door watching the broken edge of the road where there was no shoulder to tell the driver how to stay on the road. So kind of similar, except for the severe weather part.
And no white stripe to follow — that must have been pretty daunting.
Seemed normal!
There is a snapshot of me at the age of two stretched out on a towel asleep in the backseat of our family’s Plymouth after a day at the beach. Scary to think of what once seemed normal! Did they even have carseats then?!
i remember standing up in the front seat of the car once while my dad was driving. i like to think that drivers back then were actually more conscientious as they didn't have phones to distract them.
the white stripe also comes in handy when driving in fog. my mother and i once drove from south texas for almost 6 hours following the white stripe due to fog. talk about tense.
kirsten
i’ve done maybe an hour in thick fog — that was more than enough. A good tip for fog: don’t use the high beams. They just make it harder to see.
I should add fog to this post, shouldn’t I?
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