[Closed] Jeez I'm getting old and grumpy!! But what is it with foglights?

lol the same happened to my old man years ago, turned out it was a rally car. I think all the water on the road immediatley evaporated when he flashed his lights back

sidelights have been as good as useless

sidelights [u]are[/u] as good as useless, you should have dipped headlights (& tail lights) on

being road aware is great - the most important manifestation in this situation should be "****, it's foggy - I should be careful & slow down"

SPray is different again - if there's no car in front, the nature of the spray changes totally, so "I can't see it, but there's obviously a car in front - I should be careful & slow down"

If you're doing well below 50mph, half a mile "plus" away might as well be on the moon. If you see that there's a car 200yds away, you need to know if it's moving or staionary and whether it has its brakes applied - fog lights on doesn't help much with that, possibly hinders

If you're in a line of traffic, trying to see what cars several ahead in the line are up to, fog lights confuse the issue

If visibility is so bad that you can't see standard rear lights at more than 30ft away, get off the road as you're likely to die soon whether or not you're at fault

Is it that time of year again, I love it when a topic rolls around again. Is it FOGGY?? NO - then turn the f*****g things off, end of. 👿

Front fogs arent required by law, rears are.
In my experience front fogs can vary greatly with beam pattern and spread, such that some are actually quite useful in fog / poor visibility and others just cause a bit of a white out and dont aid your vision greatly. I tend to put them on in poor visibility more to be seen than to see.
IIRC it is recommended to use rear fogs only if visibility is SEVERELY reduced, less than 5metres (not sure if its not actually 3metres)

Found these useful bit on the highway code online. Doesn't appear to be specifics relating to the use of rear fog lights though.

114
You MUST NOT

use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders
use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users (see Rule 226)
In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. This will minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again.

236
You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves.

bigyinn, if visibility is down to 5 metres or less I think that common sense would stop anyone driving.

Despite it being very clearly law (must in HC) this is another thing that the poice choose not to do anything about. Wwish I could merrily pick and choose which bits of my job to do or not.

"especially when you think about it properly"
yes you could try that.

votchy - Member
bigyinn, if visibility is down to 5 metres or less I think that common sense would stop anyone driving.

Thanks bigyinn.
Like i said before these are supposed to be the easy bits.

[img] [/img]

According to the HC, you may use foglights if visibility is less than 100 metres. You MUST turn them off if visibility improves.

Here you go. I did a slightly scientific test involving our Focus and my cameraphone in the yard at work. The camera is sitting on top of the steering wheel.

Normal dip
[img] [/img]

Foglights
[img] [/img]

Both together
[img] [/img]

As you can see, the fogs just fill in below the headlights. There ain't no way they are dazzling anyone in traffic, at least nowhere near the extent the dipped beams will...
So there. 🙂

Fronts don't dazzel as shown above, they light up the road just in front of the car. Rears do but you can still normally see the brake lights as there are rules on where they fogs can be placed in relationship to the brake lights. I tend to use mine in more than just fog. I also use them in heavy rain/spray as you can loose sight of the car in front even in day light but i turn them off when it improves or the traffic slows down. There is nothing worse than having to sit behind a car that has the rear fogs on and the brake lights.

I have used my front fogs to aid driving at night on narrow backroads, they light up the side of the road (hedge etc) well.

Those saying front fogs don't dazzle must by too young to drive. I do drive and they do dazzle it is easy to see, and it makes my eyes sore. They have no place on busy roads as they are so dangerous. The only time they would'nt dazzle would be if the fog were so thick as to actually need them, which happens very rarely even where I live on the side of a Welsh mountain.

Fronts point down, as above.

Rears though, don't get me started on them!

they should be speed controlled IMO. If it is soooo foggy you NEED your rear fogs on, you shouldn't be driving above 20mph - at which point they should go out, or give the driver an electric shock perhaps.

Also what is it with people who stop at traffic lights and sit there with their foot on the foot brake! Ahhhhh its as bright as a rear fog light FFS USE YOUR HANDBRAKE!

On BTW, you can be done for using fog lights when it isn't foggy, apparently.