Driving in Blowing Dust on the South Plains

Visibility can drop to nothing with little warning. Here is the standard guidance and what it does to a vehicle afterward.

Blowing dust on the South Plains can take visibility from clear to nothing in a short distance, and it does it on highways where traffic is moving fast. It is the most dangerous routine weather condition in this region.

If you can avoid entering it, do

If you can see a wall of dust ahead and there is an exit, take it. Waiting somewhere safe costs you time. Entering low visibility at highway speed costs considerably more when the vehicle in front of you stops and you cannot see it.

If you are caught in it

The standard guidance for reduced-visibility dust conditions:

1. 1Reduce speed immediately and progressively — do not brake hard, because of what is behind you
2. 2Turn on headlights, and use low beams — high beams reflect off the dust and reduce visibility further
3. 3If you can get completely off the roadway, do it — as far off as possible, not on the shoulder
4. 4Once fully off the pavement, turn off all lights including hazards, take your foot off the brake, and set the parking brake
5. 5Keep your seatbelt on and wait

Why the lights go off

This is the counterintuitive part and it is the standard recommendation in dust conditions. Drivers in near-zero visibility follow lights. A vehicle stopped off the roadway with its lights on can be mistaken for a vehicle in a travel lane, and following traffic drives toward it.

Lights off, foot off the brake so the brake lights are dark, and completely clear of the pavement.

Do not stop on the shoulder

A shoulder is not far enough off the road in near-zero visibility. Get well clear if there is anywhere to go.

What it does to the vehicle

Driving through blowing dust loads filters heavily in a short time, coats the radiator and condenser, and puts abrasive material into every seal. After a significant dust event:

• Check the engine air filter — it can go from fine to restricted in one storm
• Check the cabin filter if airflow has dropped
• Rinse the radiator and condenser fins
• Rinse the vehicle including the underside
• Check wiper blades, which dust degrades quickly
• Be aware that dust plus a subsequent rain makes a paint-abrading paste

Windshield damage

Blowing sand at highway speed pits and etches glass over time. A windshield that has taken years of it scatters light badly at night, which is a genuine visibility problem people adapt to without noticing.

Where we fit

Elite Tire & Brake handles filters, cooling system cleaning, tires and brakes across Lubbock and the South Plains. Call (806) 458-2709.