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[i]People don't turn lights on and off these days, they just leave them in the 'automatic' setting all the time. [/i]
yeah I realised that as I passed a 'yoof' in his ST fiesta and realised that he had no rear lights on, but a little strip of LEDs above his main lights were on... hey ho.
It's partially clearing here in Shiny Town, I say that because it's just breaking but not enough to clear properly.
Gonna be hellish around 4pm when the sun goes down and you get blazing low sun one minute then fog the next 😯
Stay safe guys.
I drove for 4 hours in fog yesterday to be greeted by beautiful sunshine over Putsborough beach
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Then by around midday it was up to around 18 degrees, warm enough to be stood outside in a towel after surfing
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Then I drove 5 hours home again in the fog.
Went for a ride in the Peak yesterday in glorious sunshine then drove back up the M1/A1. Saw much the same as everyone else has mentioned above but special mention goes to the guy in Audi A4 tonking along at 90mph with only sidelight on, in the fog, in the dark.
Well not just my current one the last 5 have too.
I've not come across that before. I have wondered whether my current wagon recognises when there's low glaring sun as it seems to often switch on automatically then?! Seems unlikely though.
I accidentally put my lights in the automatic bit when I picked my car up. It was very foggy and my wife said when we got home that I didn't have any lights on, she was following me home. I've never used the automatic setting again.
So lights that come on automatically when it is dark failed to come on when it wasn't dark so you've refused to use this (quite nice) feature ever since? 😕 Okay.
Personally I like having automatic lights. They are a nice little gadget.
But they do still need to be switched on manually for other conditions like fog or rain. I can cope with that.
Audi A4 tonking along at 90mph with only sidelight on, in the fog, in the dark.
Probably going that speed so no one crashes into the back of him. You know how bad other drivers are. It's like you are invisible sometimes 🙂
GrahamS - Member
I accidentally put my lights in the automatic bit when I picked my car up. It was very foggy and my wife said when we got home that I didn't have any lights on, she was following me home. I've never used the automatic setting again.
So lights that come on automatically when it is dark failed to come on when it wasn't dark so you've refused to use this (quite nice) feature ever since? Okay.Personally I like having automatic lights. They are a nice little gadget.
But they do still need to be switched on manually for other conditions like fog or rain. I can cope with that.
Exactly.
It's quite easy to fall foul of the running lights/automatic lights problem. My own car has automatic lights but not running lights, work vehicles (newer but lower spec) have running lights but no auto. This results in starting up work vehicles and seeing lights bouncing back off whatever is in front, then me falsely assuming ALL my lights are on (why don't tail lights come on on all cars?) as they would on my own car. It should be possible in this day and age to have cars that recognise fog, not just ambient light levels, perhaps using a contrast detector similar to autofocus in cameras. This is beyond my technological knowhow however but probably not STWs.
It should be possible in this day and age to have cars that recognise fog, not just ambient light levels, perhaps using a contrast detector
[i]Could[/i] be done (and may well be in some cars already) but it still won't detect all the situations where you might want lights (e.g. low sun, rain, dappled light, road spray, dust, smoke etc)
Lots of Red Indian fog round here.
Patchy.
The ride home was rubbish. The ride in this morning was fine cos it was basically solid traffic so I could just filter.
Coming home was more free-flowing traffic but the fog put everyone on edge. Driving standards were abysmal. Plenty of people with sidelights only, loads more with full on foglights in stop/start traffic where all it does is dazzle everyone.
I was riding with a couple of work colleagues, all of us with really good lights and hi-vis but we still had stupid overtakes and a couple of hoots from people who still seemed to think that 50yd visibility was fine for normal speeds.
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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.
as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights
ie. turn them off if there are cars in front and behind you - 99% of most peoples commutes.
If the fog clears tomorrow, the last few should be off by thursday I reckon.
ie. turn them off if there are cars in front and behind you
Eh? That's not my reading of that at all.
So are cars overtaking or pulling out from junctions meant to just guess if the car with fog lights has a train of cars following it?
If there is a car in front of me then it'll be a suitable distance away from me. If there is a car behind me then it [i]should[/i] be a suitable distance away from me, especially in fog.
Drove 320 miles in the fog today. Not too many idiots but one guy driving down the M1 in the dark with no lights on at all, in a black Nissan. He must have been fooled by the running lights thing. I tried to point out to him and loads of other people flashed him but he couldn't seem to see his problem.
I'm sure my eyes are normal but I've never once been dazzled by someone's fog lights.
Yes, they're bright but not like someone coming the other way with full beam left on.
Anyone else?
Some cars have, but not many. Most are bright enough to be annoying though.
Could be done (and may well be in some cars already) but it still won't detect all the situations where you might want lights (e.g. low sun, rain, dappled light, road spray, dust, smoke etc)
Mine will come on if the wipers have been activated a certain amount. So where's there's road spray they often trigger.