Just looked outside and the fog is a thick as you can get!
That means front and rear foglights on eveyones cars for next 3 weeks! Hope this gets past backroom swear filter!
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... and very likely a spate of accidents due to tailgating.
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Just looked outside and the fog is a thick as you can get!
Brilliant sunshine here, on the east coast! :-)
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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>> Just looked outside and the fog is a thick as you >> can get! Brilliant sunshine here, on the east coast! :-)
East coast of sunny Lincolnshire, that is! :-)
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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I came back from Sheffield to Stoke last night through the peak district and for most of the way i was crawling at 20mph due to very thick fog
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What I don't understand are those drivers who put their front fogs on (nothing wrong with this owing to the fog) but then they have just side lights on, not dipped beam. Why? Weird....
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Even more astounding during last night's fog in our area was the number of drivers who only had sidelights on....
Apart from the sheer stupidity of it, such drivers fail to realise that in a line of approaching traffic they are virtually invisible until the last moment; not much fun if you are trying to turn right and watching for a suitable gap.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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In very thick fog this actually aids the driver. In thick fog the dipped beam hits the fog and bounces back reducing visibility (put full beam on in fog and you'll see the effect). Fog lights are placed lower down and illuminate the road immediately in front of the car and therefore don't bounce off the fog, but they can be seen by oncoming drivers.
The number of people who didn't use fog lights in thick fog on the M62 late last night came as no surprise to me!
As to the woman who had full beam on - what an idiot! I could see the bright blue light on the dash when I passed her, why couldn't she?
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It may very well help, but it's illegal.
To cite Lancashire Police's website:
"Seriously reduced visibility
During conditions of seriously reduced visibility vehicles on the road, except when parked, must have illuminated:
* obligatory headlamps (main or dipped beam unless fog lamp lit)
* obligatory front and rear position lamps (side lights and rear red lights)
* obligatory rear registration plate lamp."
Regarding sidelights use:
"During hours of darkness
It is an offence during the hours of darkness for a motor vehicle on the road not to have obligatory lights on ie dipped or main beam head lamps, except:
* when parked and
* when in a 30mph speed limit and the street lighting is no more than 185 metres (600 feet) apart. In this case side lights and rear obligatory lamps must be illuminated."
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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> What I don't understand are those drivers who put their front fogs on (nothing wrong with this owing to the fog) but then they have just side lights on, not dipped beam. Why? Weird....
In 'proper' fog (not heavy mist), and with well designed fog lights, this is the correct thing to do. Because headlamps are mounted relatively high from the road, even dipped beam is prone to glaring back in to your eyes. Front fog lights however not only have a short, wide, beam, but are mounted as near to the road as is practical. This helps reduce glare, because you are sitting well above the beam of light.
In a real pea souper, try it. I used this technique in the dark today for a few hundred yards of extremely dense fog, and the difference in vision, in relative terms of course, was huge.
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Shouldn't that be: Oh No, light mist, that means front and rear foglights on.
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Light mist, fog lights. Certainly the case on my journey this morning!
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At last
I have been driving round all year with my fog lights on waiting for this moment.
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I wonder how the police would view the use of sidelights and front fogs at night in fog, rather than just dipped beam (I'm thinking where there are no street lights so dipped beam is mandatory).
My example was this morning, in daylight when the fog wasn't really that thick, but people insisted on using side lights with front fogs. But no rear fogs-if they think they need front fogs, then surely they should think they need rear ones too!
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See my 15.23 posting (re sidelights and front fog lights).
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Driving back through Guildford at 10.30 yesterday evening, a car joined the lighted section of the dual carriageway with no lights on at all. The car was flashed by a succession of following cars for a distance of about two miles -
no reaction .. finally it came to the end of the lighted carriageway and continued on for half a mile behind another car, (still no lights), until finally the car in front turned off.
It was another few hundred yards before the driver realised that all was pitch black before finally putting on his(or her) lights..
P.
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This morning, I was dropping my sister off at school and behind me was a woman in black Punto with sidelights on. It was dark and if anyone has seen how dim the Punto's sidelights are, you'll know how difficult it was to see it. So, driving up the road, I turned my lights off and then on again straight away. Nothing. Get to a junction and she's clasping a bottle of water in one hand and a sandwich in the other.
Try turning them off and on again twice, nothing. Needless to say I put as much distance between myself and her as I could.
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Adam
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>I have been driving round all year with my fog lights on waiting for this moment.
I know, I was doing the same. And then when I saw it was foggy this morning I got so excited I forgot to turn mine off, dammit.
Oh the embarassement of driving in fog with the foglights on !!! I shall have to turn in by baseball cap now.
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No. Simply wear it to the side at a jaunty angle and hang your head in shame.
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Adam
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I know, I was doing the same. And then when I saw it was foggy this morning I got so excited I forgot to turn mine off, dammit.
Quite night, no need for fog lights. The blue neons would have made you visible enough ... ;-)
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It was quite a night, but I dunno how you knew that.
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It was quite a night, but I dunno how you knew that.
Perhaps she was at the same Blue Oyster bar as you were!!
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Perhaps she was at the same Blue Oyster bar as you were!!
Shush, or I'll be in no end of trouble with the Porch-driver ;-)
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A friend of mine insists that he drives around with foglights on all the time, even to the point of keeping his lights on in the daytime.
His excuse for being twice as lit up as the rest of us is the "foglights light up the curb more". OK, I say, great, but you'll have driven past the sodding curb before the foglights would have come close enough to notice the difference!
May I suggest foglights for the poll? That's if we haven't had it before...
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even to the point of keeping his lights on in the daytime. His excuse for being twice as lit up as the rest of us is the "foglights light up the curb more".
Very handy in daylight hours.
OK, I say, great, but you'll have driven past the sodding curb before the foglights would have come close enough to notice the difference!
Perhaps your friend needs to get his eyes tested ;o)
May I suggest foglights for the poll? That's if we haven't had it before...
There have been a couple of recent foglight suggestions, but I've yet to let them run.
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I'm not at all convinced of the benefits of front fog lights (except that they do improve your field of vision when diving through unlit country roads in the dead of night). Perhaps it's just me, but I've never driven in fog so thick that front fog lights were needed (ie of any discernable benefit), however, rear fogs are a great boon in the right conditions. My Pug has what I consider to be a big design fault - you can't switch on the rear fogs until the front ones are lit....but I don't need the front ones on...aaaghh!!! Surely, the rear lights should switch first & then the fronts - the rears are much more valuable in foggy conditions. This might have the added benefit of fewer people driving everywhere with their front fogs on.
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> Surely, the rear lights should switch first & then the fronts
That's the whole point - they're little more than a fashion accessory.
That would be like being unable to switch your under-car neons on until it detects you've got your seatbelt on. ;-)
-Mark
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Front fog lights are an aid to your vision as a driver, rear fog light is to make you more visible to other road users.
I think it stands to reason that you should be able to turn the rear one on before the front ones. Just as when it gets progressively darker you turn the sidelights on (aid to you being seen by others) before the headlights (aid to your vision).
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I think it stands to reason that you should be able to turn the rear one on before the front ones.
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Try telling Ford that.
Both the Mondeo and Focus have the same design of switch that turns the front fog lights on BEFORE the rear ones.
I cannot uderstand their logic
So if I consider that I need my rear fog lights on and switch them on.
I guess I run the risk that I could be stopped for having the front fog lights on in too good visibility?
I will take that chance, preferring to reduce the risk of some clown hitting me from behind.
Please remember that us Ford drivers do not all wear caps of any type and are victims of Ford DESIGN.
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The laguna has front first/rear second logic too.
And its perfectly reasonable.
"So if I consider that I need my rear fog lights on and switch them on."
Yup so far so good
"I guess I run the risk that I could be stopped for having the front fog lights on in too good visibility?"
HUH? There is a difference in visiblity level between front and back then? If the visibility is bad enough to warrant putting on the backs how are you gonna get nicked for putting on the fronts?
What a load of ********* gets spoken on here about fog lights. I am rarely blinded by front foglights, but I am frequently blinded by "self leveling" xenons!
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HUH? There is a difference in visiblity level between front and back then? If the visibility is bad enough to warrant putting on the backs how are you gonna get nicked for putting on the fronts? What a load of ********* gets spoken on here about fog lights.
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I use my rear fog lights to try and CYA from some idiot who thinks he can travel safely at 70 mph in the fog. That does not mean I need my front fogs to see the road in front.
Perhaps things are different for you.
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I think your front fogs are to help other people see you as well.
I've always found them quite the most useless things for helping me to see, but I've always felt that insofar as oncoming cars or cars waiting to pull out of junctions they were immensely useful in helping to announce my presence.
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The laguna has front first/rear second logic too. And its perfectly reasonable. "So if I consider that I need my rear fog lights on and switch them on." Yup so far so good "I guess I run the risk that I could be stopped for having the front fog lights on in too good visibility?" HUH? There is a difference in visiblity level between front and back then? If the visibility is bad enough to warrant putting on the backs how are you gonna get nicked for putting on the fronts? What a load of ********* gets spoken on here about fog lights. I am rarely blinded by front foglights, but I am frequently blinded by "self leveling" xenons!
Then you are lucky. My night vision is frequently ruined by front foglights. My eyes are fine apart from needing reading glasses, but as I've aged glare at night has become more of a problem. You should realise that front fogs effectively double the amount of light being projected at on-coming traffic.
imo the stupid things should be totally banned as it's obvious that the vast majority of drivers have no clue as to how they should be used, and in any case, except in very thick fog at night, front fogs do virtually nothing to assist the driver's vision.
Rear fog lights should only be needed in very poor visibility when the driver cannot see a following vehicle. As soon as a vehicle can be seen close behind, they can be switched off. If you can see him, he can see you.
It seems to me that many drivers see a bit of mist and think it's compulsory to switch on both front and rear fog lights immediately. Thoughtless lemmings.
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Now let me see. Rear lights 5watts x 2, Rear fogs 21 watts x 2 thats 52 watts in total not optically projected.
Front light 55 watts times 2 thats 110 watts projected.
"If you can see him, he can see you."
Oooooo Maybe not!
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...of, course - what was I thinking?.....
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The simple solution is that if drivers cannot distinguish between clear and limited visibility they should be taken off the roads.
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I don't see what the problem is anyway. The Accent I have complains if I leave the foglights on (bong-bong-bong as I open the driver's door, regardless of whether or not I've switched the main lights off). This should be enough to remind people. I'd assume other cars are wired up the same?
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I'd assume other cars are wired up the same?
Mine automatically cancel themselves when either the ignition or the headlights are turned off. Vectra, btw.
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