The psychology behind the useage of fog lights.

[Chris GB]

Perhaps the manufacturers could help here. If they made fog lights turn off automatically at the speed at which they become of no use, the problem would not exist. Say 12mph?

There are two driving instructors around here consistently allowing or encouraging the committing of the offence of incorrect use of fog lights. Cuts, with an n.

[Breezy_Pete]

Perhaps the manufacturers could help here. If they made fog lights turn off automatically at the speed at which they become of no use, the problem would not exist. Say 12mph?

There are two driving instructors around here consistently allowing or encouraging the committing of the offence of incorrect use of fog lights. Cuts, with an n.

Great idea. I'll buy you considerable numbers of pints if you can send that idea viral and make it happen. :clap:

[fabiamk2SE]

Good idea.

Itd take a while to filter through though.

Provably wont see the benefit for 10 years or so if they did do it now

[samj2013]

Perhaps the manufacturers could help here. If they made fog lights turn off automatically at the speed at which they become of no use, the problem would not exist. Say 12mph?

There are two driving instructors around here consistently allowing or encouraging the committing of the offence of incorrect use of fog lights. Cuts, with an n.

Makes me wonder how some driving instructors got qualified... It's also no wonder that it takes some people multiple attempts to pass their test...

[fabiamk2SE]

Makes me wonder how some driving instructors got qualified... It's also no wonder that it takes some people multiple attempts to pass their test...

Its not just the fogs.

I've seen some horrific driving by driving instructors.

Overtaking on solid whites etc etc.

But thats another subject haha.

[Ootohere]

'Freezing Fog' & lighting up time still before daylight this morning,  & some Psychos out there had not a clue,

& some seem to think they have lights because there are DRLs to the Front with Sidelights, 

no rear Fogs on though.

[silver1011]

I am seriously considering getting one of those LED scrolling matrix boards for my rear parcel shelf with several pre-programmed messages.

 

I won't post them here as they'll likely offend.

 

Quite cheap on the internet now with a 12V supply and a remote control!

 

POLITE (looks like Police if flased up quickly), then...

 

BACK OFF!

 

[Ootohere]

Lovely, but illegal sadly.

[Titanium_Man]

I am seriously considering getting one of those LED scrolling matrix boards for my rear parcel shelf with several pre-programmed messages.

I won't post them here as they'll likely offend.

Quite cheap on the internet now with a 12V supply and a remote control!

POLITE (looks like Police if flased up quickly), then...

BACK OFF!

I considered this for middle lane hoggers.....

[silver1011]

Lovely, but illegal sadly.

 

Really? I wasn't aware of this.

[keystonedriving]

Back on topic properly. No need for fog lights full stop, they're a marketing / sales hype as they just don't work. The arguments for DRL's is another subject surely. FWIW lights on must be better than no lights, whatever the conditions. Maybe they should flash gently....

 

Properly adjusted fog lights do work, and are of use at speeds up to about 30mph.  The problem is that many people do not understand the idea that fog lights are designed to be used instead of headlights not in addition to them and therefore gain no advantage by using them.

 

It's the 'bling' lights (aka drl's) which serve no useful purpose and should be banned.

[silver1011]

Properly adjusted fog lights do work, and are of use at speeds up to about 30mph.  The problem is that many people do not understand the idea that fog lights are designed to be used instead of headlights not in addition to them and therefore gain no advantage by using them.

 

It's the 'bling' lights (aka drl's) which serve no useful purpose and should be banned.

 

Give me a set of DRL's used correctly during the day over a set of front fog lights used incorrectly at night any day of the week.

[stever750]

Properly adjusted fog lights do work, and are of use at speeds up to about 30mph.  The problem is that many people do not understand the idea that fog lights are designed to be used instead of headlights not in addition to them and therefore gain no advantage by using them.

 

It's the 'bling' lights (aka drl's) which serve no useful purpose and should be banned.

The idea is they have a wide flat beam that should be positioned low down, close to the tarmac so that you avoid primary reflection of the main lights off the water droplets. A lot of spray on a motorway at night is also similar to fog and should in theory help. Because the beam is low and flat it should not remotely dazzle oncoming drivers. Every car that I have had them fitted to they were hopeless, usually mounted too high and not flat enough. The ones on the vRS illuminated an extra couple of feet to the sides, which might be the difference between getting home and not in a peasouper. As a safety feature, DRLs are in a completely (better) league in my opinion, for the benefit of pedestrians, motorcyclist and other drivers pulling out of T junctions. A bit of dazzle might just be the attention grabber that prevents an accident so I'm happy to put up with the blinginess.

[Chris GB]

Fog light beams are flat and when properly set, they are low too. The idea is that they dont bleach out the area between the road surface and the driver in dense fog, so that in heavily reduced visibility (<5M) they give the driver a way of tracing out where the kerb and road markings are. In visibility greater than this, dipped headlights will be better as they illuminate further away and give longer coverage than the fog light will reach. The reason they are a problem is that although they are angled downward (when properly set up) they still produce their light from a small intense point source and are therefore likely to add to glare and driver fatigue for other road users. Realistically, if the fog is light enough to be doing more than around 8mph, you probably should not be using the front fog lights, assuming you are going on giving yourself 2 seconds to react to a stationary hazard. Correctly adjusted front fog lights would be no use at all at 30mph. Using them in rain or spray is just adding to glare and reflection coming off the surface towards oncoming vehicles.

 

The people who use their front fog lights for appearance fall into one or more of the following categories:

 

Stupid

 

Thoughtless

 

Inconsiderate

 

Ignorant

 

The people who use their front fog lights because they ruined their headlights with some stick on tat and / or stupid blue coloured but dim bulbs fall into another category, but I would be banned from the forum for using that word, so I'll leave that for now.

 

Another thing that bugs me is that in the Citigo, I cannot have the rear fog light on without the fronts on too.

[vindaloo]

In the past I have used my fog lights when travelling certain back lanes etc. The reason: It was difficult to see the margins of the road where the verge and foresty detritus met the tarmac. In that particular car (Astra mk4) the fog lights were positioned on the extreme edges of the bumper and did a great job of illuminating the edges of the road.

 

I usually remembered to turn them off on returning to a street lit area.

 

The fog lights on the Astra mk4 reset if the car was turned off. One of the better features of it.

 

J.

[stever750]

How apt thast this should appear from Viz's Twop Twips twitter feed last night:

 

@TwopTwips: FOG LIGHTS make a great aid to driving in inclement weather & an even better aid to warn you of an oncoming t**t in good weather.