I think all fog lights should be banned. For the amount of times they're needed in this country they do more harm than good.
I'm not convinced I have overly sensitive eyes, but find them well over the top, esp the rears (and I regularly pass eye sight tests).
I know two wrongs don't make a right, but will ensure virtually every time, the selfish sod using them gets a healthy dose of main beam (and main beam on my car is pretty efficient).... and will make sure I position the car to burn their retinas out, like they're doing to mine...why else have the authorities made it an offence?
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I always flash the posers doing this. Hope it focuses their tiny little minds with their tiny little.......
Sometimes you wish you could stop them and ask them why they do it. Irritating in the extreme. And yes I have them on both cars and rarely use them. Agree cars should be built without.
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I wonder who would spot the front fogs being on in three out of the last four cars I've had. a Golf, Passat and Mazda6. The front fog lights on all of these are in the main headlight unit and not in the bumper.
Okay if you got a lower spec Mazda6 then the optional front fog lights end up in the bumper but not on the Sport model.
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Perhaps those who do use the front ones could enlighten me on something... I agree they do light up the few yards in front of the car better than the main beam, but travelling at anything over 25mph or so you would still see the pothole/lack of verge too late to make any difference... As I understand it they were designed to light up the road just in front of the car at low level in fog where the visibility was better, and obviously would only be used when going slowly...
So do you only use them when driving slowly down these country roads, or do you use them at 50mph when they would only be good for showing you the hole you are about to hit... just as you hit it?!
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As usual the hang 'em brigade have assumed that those of us that *occasionally* use them are doing so with the sole intention of showing other driver's that we have fogs/auxiliaries fitted, and rant on as if we have them permanently wired.
Again..sometimes when it's not foggy but there is a heavy damp in the air for some reason a matt effect occurs especially on the road surface, and more so in the verges where it will be even wetter.
Not talking about rain here either, but the sort of damp that descends in winter when the roads have been salted for several nights and in the evenings the damp is attracted to the road.
If you have correctly set auxiliary lights (on older MB's they are inside of , but with their own adjusters and integral to the headlamps) you have them set to cut off about half way up the dipped beam, then when those particular light conditions prevail the doubling effect of the lights gives a safe spread of light where needed to help maintain normal progress.
When you flick up to main beam, the aux's still cover the close raod for you too...i know some people seem unable to use main beam properly but that another discussion.
Now i've done this only a handful of times and so far haven't needed to do so for the last 12 months since i fitted better quality legal bulbs in the headlights.
When i have used auxiliaries i have not once been flashed by anyone else, but i use them sensibly when 90% of other drivers with them have been doing the same.
There is no need to use them when it's either raining or otherwise clear.
Maybe those detractors don't venture into rural areas during the salting season, cruising around in lit urban areas mostly, there was a time when the majority of us would use side lights only, a far better way of street lit urban driving especially for unlit pedestrians and cyclists struggling to battle against the my lights are better than yours crew.
Incidentally i don't think i've ever used the rear fog on my car over the last 7 years, they really are a menace because following traffic (no one turns them off when cars behind) doesn't register immediately when brake lights go on, and we don't get the fogs like we used to where 15 mph was too fast sometimes.
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I'll be one of those detractors living in a rural area, you know, no streetlights whatsoever in my village, foxes, badgers and deer a plenty, plus the obligatory potholes. I'm more than familiar with the sort of fog that has me doing ten mph. Just wanted to clear that up!
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Perhaps those who do use the front ones could enlighten me on something... I agree they do light up the few yards in front of the car better than the main beam, but travelling at anything over 25mph or so..
I use them on roads where I rarely exceed 25mph. I'm talking single track with a fringe on top, with verges gouged 2ft deep by tractors. In these conditions, they're a positive aid to safety & very reassuring.
I think there's a wide variation in type & deployment of 'fog' lights - some seem more like spot-lights to me: near horizontal focussed beams. My front 'fog' lights spread the beam like a fan both sides of the car & illuminate for about 10 metres, with a fairly sharp cut-off after that. I've checked them from the front & they don't dazzle - but they do of course, add to the overall lumen power output at the front.
Much more irritating in my view, are badly aligned, uncorrected-for-rear-load & replacement high output headlight bulbs.
I hadn't heard of the 'alternative' uses described by one poster - borne out also when I checked this with my gay & dogging friends... they say text & twitter is the way to go...;)
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Its a country thing - townies wouldn't understand any more than we would understand "other things" such as congestion charging and bus lanes and that. Random.
Edited by Pugugly on 15/11/2009 at 10:29
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So do you only use them when driving slowly down these country roads or do you use them at 50mph when they would only be good for showing you the hole you are about to hit... just as you hit it?!
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I use them on unlit narrow roads at normal speeds and find that an extra 110 watts of light in a wide beam puts more light on the road but mainly improves peripheral illumination even on main beam and on my car the dips remain on with main beam. PU hit the nail above, its a rural thing. I would not dream of using fogs in good visibility on a lit road or in traffic.
Edited by Old Navy on 15/11/2009 at 10:52
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I wonder who would spot the front fogs being on in three out of the last four cars I've had. a Golf Passat and Mazda6. The front fog lights on all of these are in the main headlight unit and not in the bumper. Okay if you got a lower spec Mazda6 then the optional front fog lights end up in the bumper but not on the Sport model.
Strange, front fog lights are supposed to work better when lower, the further from the driver's eyeline the less glare comes back off the fog.
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Rear fogs in the rain get to me, to be fair if I come up behind a car with rear fog(s) on when not foggy if I give a quick flash to attract attention then switch my front fogs on for a second or so the message invariably gets across sometimes with an apologetic wave. I.e. most are forgetful rather than wilful.
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Misuse of rear fogs - indefensible.
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''It's a rural thing' (!!) Not for this ruralite it isn't. And Pug, how can you differentiate between fronts and rears? Rears dazzle, fronts dazzle. Maybe back off a little bit??
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"Its a country thing - townies wouldn't understand"
So we don't do a large proportion of our driving in the sticks. But the post is about fogs when it isn't foggy, and in town, they are an annoyance. Do what you like on your unlit country roads, but keep it there. Clear, lit towns are not the place for fogs unless there IS fog.
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''It's a rural thing' (!!) Not for this ruralite it isn't. And Pug how can you differentiate between fronts and rears? Rears dazzle fronts dazzle. Maybe back off a little bit??
Do you have a problem with me sometimes turning my front fogs on and off with my main beams?
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Its a debate about front fogs - which I occasionally use in conditions other than directed by the Highway Code. I wouldn't use them in towns or on lit roads, I can't remember when I last used my rear fogs - I can't remember which car I even used them in. The way I look at it is that I'll use the lights on my car how I want unless its likely to affect another road user.
Is it here, I wonder, whether I dare mention the auxiliary lamps on my motor-cycle ? Perhaps not. :-)
Keep a sense of proportion on this guys !
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Is it here, I wonder, whether I dare mention the auxiliary lamps on my motor-cycle ? Perhaps not. :-)
Perfectly legal apparently. But must be used in conjunction with main or dipped beam as extra 'driving lamps'. There's an interesting thread on UKGSUSER on the subject - which you've probably already read anyway!
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Yep - brilliant site that if it wasn't for all them signature pictures etc !
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I always flash the posers doing this. Hope it focuses their tiny little minds with their tiny little.......
Don't do that - you're just giving them the attention that they crave.
Apparantly the standard Police conversation is to ask why he/she hasn't got their windscreen wipers on. They look puzzled and say because it isn't raining. Then the officer says "well it isn't foggy either, so why have you got your fog lights on?" :)
Edited by Bill Payer on 15/11/2009 at 11:15
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Ah, It might be an attention thing - especially late at night when there's no-one about to impress/crave attention from :-) What we're talking about here is the very occasional use, when there's no-one else about at low speed. Judging by responses here I need to get a "Woofer" and a couple of exhaust tailpipes....it really is binary here today..!
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Yes, I think we need to differentiate between the urban posers, gays, and chavs, and the people who use their front fogs for extra illumination occasionally.
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Another Police tactic is to open the conversation with: 'You haven't got your rear fog lights on'. I can't think of a response from the driver that's going to help. Although for an officer to do this, when they have no intention of issuing petty penalties, and would appear to simply be indulging their sarcasm would be quite wrong...
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