At a set of traffic lights today (roughly 6.30pm) i noticed a Pug 206 approaching in my rear view mirror.

The sun was out, the driver had sunglasses on, yet his sidelights and front fog lights were on.

Does anyone else find this to be totally pointless and look pretty stupid when visibility is clear?

The driver appeared to be older than me (possibly mid 30's) so not your usual baseball cap wearing 'yooof'.

It's also annoying when the low light bounces off puddles and sheet water and dazzles you in rain.

It's particularly annoying when your tailing someone with fogs on as theres very little you can do to avoid being dazzled

What you do is give them a dose of their own medicine (at least in the dark), by driving behind them with you main beam on as much as possible, without dazzling oncoming traffic.

In day light (if possible), pull up along side them and comment on how thick the fog is; when they say "fog? what fog??" you reply, "There MUST be thick fog, cos only a complete **** would drive around with their fog lights on otherwise!!!"

I think they should ban front foglights and make xenon headlight as standard ive got front foglight with xenon headlights and when i turn my foglights on there's very little difference. also the people that get caught using them should be put on a data base and if they get caught using them again there fines should get doubled so come on you lot turn them off

i always have my sidelights on, not my fogs. I just dont understand why people get "DAZZLED" by fog lights?? there no brighter than a normal set of lights. Just seems like an excuse to moan. Now "FULL BEAM" that dont have dazzle you :(

Incorrectly aligned headlights do my head in more than foglights!

Oh and the burks dragging around there homes in the back of the car, without using the headlight adjustment switch!

I just dont understand why people get "DAZZLED" by fog lights??

Front foglights have a very different beam pattern to normal lights, headlights project downwards towards the left of the road with a small kick up at the kerb. Foglights are different in that they are designed to help you see in the fog, so have a very different beam pattern that causes dazzle to oncoming motorists. Rear foglights have a higher wattage bulb than tale lights (Same as brake light), and the lens is designed to penetrate fog.

Front foglights have a very different beam pattern to normal lights, headlights project downwards towards the left of the road with a small kick up at the kerb. Foglights are different in that they are designed to help you see in the fog, so have a very different beam pattern that causes dazzle to oncoming motorists. Rear foglights have a higher wattage bulb than tale lights (Same as brake light), and the lens is designed to penetrate fog.

O i can understand the rear fog to annoy people, but i cant say fog lights bother me to much. Only time they do if ever dazzle you, is if a car is coming up the top of a hill and your at the bottom.

The whole point of FOGLIGHTS is simple.... the clue is there somewhere?

Over a hill, in the rain, even in snow, foglights can be a nuisance to other drivers. If its not foggy, they aren't needed. They don't look cool, they just let other drivers around you know that your eyesight is poor, or your windscreen needs cleaning if everything looks foggy around you.

People who drive with fog lamps on when it is not foggy are:

1. Ignorant of the law and regulations for when to use them

or

2. Know the law and disregard it.

or

3. Are not familiar with the controls of the car that they are driving.

Either way they should be given a wide berth as:

1. They don't know the Highway Code

or

2. They know the Highway Code and think that it doesn't apply to them.

or

3. They could easily get confused by some of the other car controls.

The whole point of FOGLIGHTS is simple.... the clue is there somewhere?

Over a hill, in the rain, even in snow, foglights can be a nuisance to other drivers. If its not foggy, they aren't needed. They don't look cool, they just let other drivers around you know that your eyesight is poor, or your windscreen needs cleaning if everything looks foggy around you.

O am not saying its good! sidelights i understand fogs i dont. my mate drives with them on as well all time :confused: each to there own i guess

O am not saying its good! sidelights i understand fogs i dont. my mate drives with them on as well all time :confused: each to there own i guess

I don't have an issue with sidelights, they are someting like 5w power, so they wouldn't dazzle you if you taped your eyes open and sat in front of them.

I only mention sidelights because you can't have front fog lights on unless you have sidelights or headlights on.

If its not dark enough for headlights, theres no point having sidelights on, and if it is too dark for sidelights, headlights should be on instead of foglights.

I don't have an issue with sidelights, they are someting like 5w power, so they wouldn't dazzle you if you taped your eyes open and sat in front of them.

I only mention sidelights because you can't have front fog lights on unless you have sidelights or headlights on.

If its not dark enough for headlights, theres no point having sidelights on, and if it is too dark for sidelights, headlights should be on instead of foglights.

True, altho i think i know why they dont use there main headlights sometimes. You know on ebay how you can buy those horrible fake xenon bulbs! I reckon they fit them realise there as good at lighting the road as a candle in a jam jar with a blanket over it, so they put there foggys on. The other day i saw this chav in an old renualt clio doing just that! :thumbdwn: Its just stupidity!

I don't mind people having sidelights on when visibility is OK, but I hate people that use foglights of any sort when it isn't foggy (the low beam of a front fog is especially nasty with a wet road as it glares back up), and I hate people that think that sidelights are sufficient when visibility is poor.

I've seen trafplod stop people for incorrect foglight use, wish it happened more.

People who drive with fog lamps on when it is not foggy are:

1. Ignorant of the law and regulations for when to use them

or

2. Know the law and disregard it.

or

3. Are not familiar with the controls of the car that they are driving.

Either way they should be given a wide berth as:

1. They don't know the Highway Code

or

2. They know the Highway Code and think that it doesn't apply to them.

or

3. They could easily get confused by some of the other car controls.

Ignorant eh! :rubchin: ............... what about conditions where visibility is impaired such as driving rain or heavy snow, surely that warrants the use of fog lights? ................... you might want to revisit the Highway Code at some point young man!

226

You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves (see Rule 236).

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.

As for the use of side lights or even headlights for that matter, several European Countries adopt compulsory usage during daylight hours and imho it's not such a bad thing if your road presence is visibly improved, and depending on conditions I adopt this approach too.

Edited 5 September, 200916 yr by Makefish

Front fogs + sidelights are for thick fog, when the headlights reflect back too much and you still need to be seen by oncoming traffic.

At all other times other road users should be able to fire exocets at the culprits.

headlights project downwards towards the left of the road with a small kick up at the kerb.

I get annoyed by the people who pull up to the right hand kerb (facing oncoming traffic) to drop their mates off and leave their headlights on. Even on dipped the offset to the left on the dipped beam puts it right in your eyes. They never drop them to side lights while they're stopped.

Yep shouldn't be on if it's not foggy.

But now I always drive around with my side lights on regardless of the time of day. Feel it makes me more visible to others and also I prefer the dash lit up better too. And as Makefish has said a lot of European countries side lights are mandatory all the time, and dipped beam in some.

Ignorant eh! :rubchin: ............... what about conditions where visibility is impaired such as driving rain or heavy snow, surely that warrants the use of fog lights? ................... you might want to revisit the Highway Code at some point young man!

If you read the post, it says:

1. Ignorant of the law and regulations for when to use them

Which you have very kindly quoted above. I find it so much quicker to type the word foggy than to use the phrase 'When visibility is reduced to less than 100 metres'.

If you want to be pedantic, one interpretation of the Highway Code is that it is perfectly OK to use fog lamps when it is dark, as it is generally accepted that visibility is reduced when it gets dark.

I say leave them on... a friendly traffic officer will eventually educate them with a £60 penalty!

Problem is they don't get stopped to be educated. Our local paper has a court case section where it tells you who's been done for what and it's always, speeding, jumping traffic lights / level crossings and using the phone but never for using fog lights Illegally..

Ok another little mention then should ban side lights it should be lights or no light as how many car go past you in the dark with sidelights they must be driving with night vision or something and the amount of people who must never check there car before going out at night as the amount of cars that drive round with one side light one headlight by i wish copper as i would be a rich copper

I said "turn them off", but only because there's no "ban them from the roads for life" option!

I find it so much quicker to type the word foggy than to use the phrase 'When visibility is reduced to less than 100 metres'.

Don't you just love a bit of 'back tracking' :P