For the anoraks out there:-

No person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, on a road any vehicle on which any lamp, hazard warning signal device or warning beacon of a type specified in an item in column 2 of the Table below is used in a manner specified in that item in column 3.

Front fog lamp use is prohibited when

(a) Used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other persons using the road.

( Used so as to be lit at any time other than in conditions of seriously reduced visibility.

© Used so as to be lit when a vehicle is parked.

Rear fog lamp use is prohibited when

(a) Used so as to cause undue dazzle or discomfort to the driver of a following vehicle.

( Used so as to be lit at any time other than in conditions of seriously reduced visibility.

© Save in the case of an emergency vehicle, used so as to be lit when a vehicle is parked.

The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations, 1989 : Part III - Regulations Governing The Maintenance & Use Of Lamps, Reflectors, Rear Markings & Devices - Regulation 27

Unfortunately there is no definative definition of seriously reduced visibility but I would generally go with less than 200m as after that your normal front and rear lights are sufficient to warn other road users of your presence on the road.

When issuing the old

I see you are one of the boys in blue

Nice to see that some of you can use discretion when necessary

I was pretty cheesed off when I got done through a genuine mistake when I was trying to drive safely the night before.

I was actually stopped at one of these checks where there's about 200 coppers standing around.

Now I actually agree with these checks which must catch no insurance/tax/junk vehicles etc and was surprised when I got nicked. At no time did the officer request my licence/insurance or check anything else on the car which seemed to defeat the object of the checkpoint. I made this comment to him and remarked that as far as I could see in my case it was just and excuse to extract money.

Basically got told to shut up and disappear which I did before he found some other nonesense, like dirty wheels or something, to nick me for.

Here's my take........Fog lights are for fog/heavy snow etc and thats it.

How the hell anyone could possibly think they look cool is beyond me. Would you drive around with a working lighthouse tied to your roofrack????....they are there to serve a purpose, NOT to make you or your car look cool. Those that do think they are cool are sadly deluded.

Good day

my dad always drives with side lights bet hes always had a thing "not only volvo's & saab's can have lights on" :confused: hes chinese! lol must only be him

my dad always drives with side lights bet hes always had a thing "not only volvo's & saab's can have lights on" :confused: hes chinese! lol must only be him

Recent Saab's don't but Volvos do. The reason is that in Sweden the snow could fall at any moment and so you have to drive about with them at all times. And Saab and Volvo just made them standard out of the factory. The difference is Saab figured out how to turn them off for other countries, Volvo couldn't.

Firstly, where can i get a working lighthouse for my roofrack? And secondly, all volvos and saabs are made to run with sidelights on. It's just dealers in countries where this is not required take the fuse marked "day running lights" out.

Seems to be some strong opinions on the foglight issue. I only put them on at dusk the other night to see if it looked good. I'm sorry im a t~#t.

Re the lighthouse : would the roofrack not add extra weight to the car and ruin the aerodynamics?

...depends. If its a furby, the extra weight of a lighthouse on roof would be no problem. An Octy may well find itself under powered though, esp. through the twisties... :P

Lights on a Saab are programmable on/off with the Saab equivalent of VagCom

Loads of stuff can be altered same as on most new cards I suppose with ECUs

...depends. If its a furby, the extra weight of a lighthouse on roof would be no problem. An Octy may well find itself under powered though, esp. through the twisties... :P

Is that because they are all talk and no torque? I suppose you would need around 310 nm to heave a roof rack round? My mate says that despite the B&Q mods his octy only has 1 nm.

On my father's old Volvo S70 T5, the headlight switch had a second 3-way switch in the corner (adjustable by screwdriver) that allowed the following:

Position 1 - Off is off, sidelights is sidelights, dipped is dipped

Position 2 - Off is dipped without dash lit, sidelights is sidelights (dash lit), dipped is dipped

Position 3 - Off is dipped without dash lit, sidelights is dipped (dash lit), dipped is dipped.

Ok, the position numbers are probably wrong, and as we sold the car nearly 2 years ago, I can't go and read the manual to check...

In NL it is 50 meters visibility before turning the blasted things on.

Mostly people do turn the blighters off again though, at some point...

And hey, I'd rather people turned their front fogs on rather than drive on their parking lights, yeah side-lights... Nope they are strictly for parking or <30mph driving...

I have no problem with front fogs being on when it ain't foggy, only when ANY lights are mis-aligned and start blinding drivers would I have a word (a word - not a ticket).

I always drive with dipped beam on, even in daylight, cos it makes you more visible on the road and less likely to end up in a bump.

This thread has been very enlightening...........

But driving with dipped bean manilights, it has been said is dangerous too as the light hides the light from the indicators. The difference isnt great enough sometimes to see whan someone is indicating.

Am I making sense? :confused:

Yep, makes sense........BUT

I'll take my chances, better to have someone see me to begin with IMO.

You pays yer money and takes yer chances I suppose.

Yep' date=' makes sense........BUT

I'll take my chances, better to have someone see me to begin with IMO.

You pays yer money and takes yer chances I suppose.[/quote']

I'm with you on that one, I have my lights on when I'm driving on the motorway. It does make a difference most people wont pull out on you, though you always get one plum that does!

Fog's really shouldn't be used unless it's foggy it annoys me these barry boys that drive around with them on

Dipped beam = on most of the time when I am actually moving the vehicle - i.e. I may drop it to sidelights if I'm parked up waiting for Mrs to get *rs* in gear but dipped goes on straight after.

In many countries it's highly recommended to have the lights on, and in some it's even required. In France the opposite is kinda true, in that they (the French) tend to flash you if you drive during the day with your headlights on dipped. Ah well

Personally I think my indicators will be pretty visible even with Xenons next to them - the indicators are pretty bright, and they're located in the IMHO only correct place for them to be: at the edges of the vehicle (plus yes, side-repeaters).

but how many cars on the road/motorway do you see using them as a replacement for their rear tail-lights which have blown? quite a lot.

Regards,

There is so much light in Dubai at night I don't really use the dipped beam either, just the parking lights.

@SkodaTDI - unfortunately, you are quite right. Spotted loads of them in Belgium actually, for some reason - very odd.

Using them in rain dazzles other drivers. The police can hand out a

using front or back fog lights is ilegal unless visibility is 100 metres or less.Tom.

that's it. end of story.