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can someone confirm whether rear fog lights are supposed to be used in rain or not? I've just driven back along the M2 and M20 today and around 30% of cars had these bright red dazzlers on. It seemed to me that visibility for following drivers is far worse when these lights are on. I thought they should only be used in visibility of less than 100 yards? Am I wrong?
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Michael, you are totally correct. I guess if the rain and spray is so bad that visibility is <100m then it would be OK to use them.
If conditions are bad enough to warrant rear fogs, personally I constantly evaluate whether to use or not. For example visibility might be less than 100m but if am being followed by someone else and I can see the otline of the vehicle then clearly he can see mine so in those cases I turn them off as acourtesy to the following driver.
But then does that make them drive closer? I don't know, what do others do?
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I always go by the rule that if I am driving a sensible distance behind (2-second rule - It's starting to pour so I'd better make that four!) and I'm struggling to see matey's rear lamps then a fog light is in order but likewise if I can see the car behind then I turn mine off. I even follow this when drif=cing in fog. I can't stand being in a slow or stationary queue of traffic on the motorway in the rain/fog when the car in front has its rear fogs on.
Front fogs in the rain? Pointless.
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Guy, the 2 second rule reminds me of when I was out helping to teach my son to drive. I told him to keep 2 secs behind, but he started counting at 1 and finished at 2, a gap of 1 second. He took some persuading to start 0 - 1 - 2. How many others do that thinking they're far enough behind?
Mike
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I use the manchester rule.
"one manchester two manchester"
by the time you've said it at normal speed two seconds have passed.
I suppose people on the wrong side of watford could use an alternative such as
"one air hell air two air hell air" :-)
Jon
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I wrote to the transport minister about this last year - I nearly went into the back of someone on a wet dark M1 'cos I didn't notice brake lights - a car should NOT have TWO rear foglights close to brake lights - I think it should be illegal. Sensible manufacturers only fit one, presumably for this reason.
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rEAR FOG LIGHTS ARE A MAJOR HAZARD IN RAIN,AND COMPLETELY UNECESSARY,SINCE NO COMPETENT DRIVER WOULD BE DRIVING AT A SPEED THAT MADE THAT MUCH FOREWARD VISIBILITY NECESSARY.
tHE QUESTION I FREQUENTLY ASK MYSELF ,HOWEVER,IS WHY CARS DRIVE AROUND IN PERFECT VISIBILITY WITH THEIR front FOGLIGHTS ON.
iTS UNANSWERABLY ILLEGAL,ITS TOTALLY UNECESSARY,AND VERY WEARING ON OTHER DRIVERS.
i DONT REMEMBER WHEN i LAST NEEDED FRONT FOGLIGHTS,BUT i think IT WAS 1959........
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The people who drive around with front fog lights on in perfectly clear weather are those who have such small egos that they constantly crave attention. Either that or they can't see past the end of their nose.
Andy
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front fog lights are more to do with fashion accessories than a driving need. They change the appearance of the car and satisfy the drivers need to look trendy, cool or chic, i guess. Either way, they are a fleeting problem as the car is travelling in the opposite direction and the moment soon passes. The point about rear fog lights is that people put them on for a specific, driving, purpose. They appear to think that, without these lights being switched on, the people behind cannot see them. What appears to be missed is that with these bright red lights switched on inappropriately (for example when it is raining), the driver behind is dazzled, can barely see beyond them and they are causing a major safety risk. Having said that, they are excellent in pea soup fog, at which point you meet the other type of driver who does not believe in turning lights on in the fog.
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Another point to be made about front fogs is that it may well be the case that you can't have the rear fogs on without first switching on the front - two position switch on my Leon with the first connected to the front fogs.
Like others I have hardly ever needed to use front fogs in previous cars but frequently use rear in poor visibility.
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Same problem with the Xantia, Dave.
I hate having the (useless) front fogs on, but without them the backs don't light.
Ian
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Ian Cook wrote:
>
> Same problem with the Xantia, Dave.
>
> I hate having the (useless) front fogs on, but without them
> the backs don't light.
>
Assuming that PSA use a similar basic design, the easiest option
is to pull the dedicated 10A fuse for the front fogs. I did this on my 306
after some clown decided to smash the front lamps.
(BTW This fuse is located in the cabin fusebox)
/john
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The other point about using rear fogs in unwarranted conditions is that on many cars they are too close to the brake lights and the dazzle of the fog lights masks the brake lights when they come on.
Result: a shunt up the rear. And the driver in front says "Couldn't you see me, I had enough lights on."
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In five years of driving, none of my cars have had front fogs, and I've never felt I needed them; but then I've never felt the need to have alloys or a plastic wedge on the back window (I drive hatchbacks) either.
My wife's Escort has front fogs (on a separate switch from the rear BTW), and she claims they are a big help; but to be honest, when I drove her car for a few weeks last October/November when it *was* foggy round my way, I couldn't perceive much difference.
True, they lit up the road a little bit more, but that didn't help me see much better, or any further ahead, so I switched them off, and managed just fine.
Alan Sugar, in the days when he used to flog mass-market stereos to Comet etc., used to describe the products as "a mug's eyeful": all those flashing lights and novelty buttons weren't actually very useful, but most customers would be impressed enough to buy the stuff because of them.
Seems the same thing goes on with cars.
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I'm 'guilty' of using my front fogs occasionally on roads with lots of side roads adjoining them. Not to help my visibility, but to help to be seen by the loons who otherwise pull out. You do see the cars with front fogs on sooner than those with only dipped h/lights.
Of course using them at other times is daft. Though how can you tell if they're using fog lights and not extra driving lights, or would they only come on with main beam?
S.
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interesting point there, stu. Travelling with bright lights on actually increases the chance of someone pulling out in front of you. The reason is due to the shortcomings of the human eye. Basically, the eye is very good at judging the speed of an oncoming object (car, bike, etc) but not very good at judging the speed of oncoming bright light. It can tell that the light is moving towards you, but it will incorrectly assess the distance and speed of the object by judging it to be slower and further way than it actually is. Result = pulling out when the vehicle is too close. You need to balance this against the risk of not being seen at all, but by being aware of the problem you can at least expect cars to pull out in front of you and know why.
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and then there are the morons who drive around on parking lights and front fog lights instead of headlights...
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