Increasing visibility with "fog" lights
Almost all of us here know that it is not legal to use fog lights except when visibility is reduced by fog or falling snow.
I have noticed however that the current design of street and vehicle lighting conspire to create poor illumination in the area immediately in front of the vehicle. The "fog" lights fitted to my Discovery fill that area with useful light and I have found
they make a big difference when driving in town where there are vehicles parked at the side of the road. They illuminate the space between the vehicles that the main lightling, even on dip, does not.
Travelling through motorway roadworks recently where there were thousands of cones but no working street lighting I was having difficulty seeing which set of lane markings were intended to be followed and tried the fog lights. What an amazing difference
in visibility they gave.
While not wanting to be seen to encourage others to break a law, what difference have others found using fog lights have made when visibility is reduced other than by fog or snow?
Comments
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Merc didn't see fit to fit front fogs as standard on my car and as such the original owner didn't tick that box.
The standard fit HIDs on my previous Vauxhall though were brilliant (no pun inteneded) & didn't need its standard fitment front fogs to see where you were going
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Contentious issue, I find that my fog/driving lights give excellent frontal and side vision (5 metres ahead), really lighting up the kerbside. To be truthfull I can't believe they would dazzle oncoming traffic with such a low aimed beam, and on country lanes they are a godsend where road and grass meet without distinction.
Tried them in fog and they are next to useless and not really certain of their true purpose
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If you read the lighting regs, then fog lights can be fitted no more than 400mm from the outer edge of a vehicle or higher than 1200mm from the ground.(and must only be used in accordance with the low visibility regs) Anything outside of these regs are deemed auxilliary driving lights and must extinguish when main beam is switched off( so cannot be used with dip beam or on their own)
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I try not to drive at night now as any modern headlights on single carriageway roads tend to "dazzle",(its an age thing according to optition?),one modern thing do find afective at night is the "turn light" that illuminates when either the left or right indicator is used
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The dazzle mentioned above, and any adverse effect of having a light shone at one, can be mitigated to some extent by not looking directly at the source. Another trick, which I'm not yet old enough to try out, is to have a low level of light inside one's
own vehicle - somewhat less than the level of interior lights.0 -
My 2015 Jaguar XF Sportbrake has no option for front fog lights and nowhere to fit them it only has rear fog lights.
It does have Bi-Xenon which i find give really good night vision they were also very good in fog as good as a light can be in thick fog.
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The OP's comment about the use of Fog and Spotlamps is correct and legally they can only be used in Fog or falling snow. BUT, - I believe the car manufacturers managed to get around the law by getting their front mounted lights classified as "Auxiliary"
lights, not fog and Spotlights.These "Auxilliary Lights" tend to be smaller than the old traditional Fog & Spots, and are lower powered. They are in effect additional driving lights and often connected to the steering mechanisms.
Real Fog & Spots are of much larger size, have very powerful "bulbs" and glass designed to throw the light well forward in the case of spots, and diffused at closer ground level in the case of fogs.
TF
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Vulcan Liked you post so i made link live if thats ok
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My car has a fully automatic 'Intelligent Lighting System' that works well. I can turn it off and use manual operation if required, which is valuable in those foggy mornings at half light where the auto system may not have changed from DRL's that are only
on the front, so no rear lights showing; a flaw in the system that appears to affect modern cars. Always pays to be aware when driving and not rely solely on systems.The ILS integrates with a camera mounted at the top of the windscreen, steering geometry sensors to give the 'turning headlights', the sat nag to illuminate the nearside when cornering, and the parking system when going slowly and it finds a space turning
the relevant side front fog light on in the dark.0 -
Vulcan Liked you post so i made link live if thats ok
http://www.swiftcover.com/about/press/fog-lights/
As I said....no one gets prosecuted for being visible....this article is about what "may" happen and what you " may" be fined......there are too many loopholes re DRL,s Fog/driving/auxiliary/ancilliary lighting for it to be a prosecutable offence.
Tj
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Jeff,
I dont think my opinion holds any more water than anyone elses. I work in law enforcement and roadside advice is all that is given. Can you tell the difference when you are mobile between which lights showing at the front of a vehicle are DRL,s Fogs or auxiliary lighting ? No neither can I.
Fog lights by design do not usually dazzle. How many of these incidents are forgetful people leaving High Beam on ?
Tj
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C'mon, dazzle by fog lights (must admit they don't dazzle me unless poorly adjusted) must come way down the list when compared with what's on the road these days.
Badly adjusted headlamps, severe 'blue' lamps that dazzle through 'scatter' more than illuminate, illegal wattage lamps, one headlight out due to expense of some cars in changing the lamp or the owner can't be bothered, and then the fog lamps (or are they driving lamps, because yellow supposedly cuts through fog better)
, that properly adjusted will only illuminate a couple of metres in front and to the kerbside.0 -
Jeff,
I dont think my opinion holds any more water than anyone elses. I work in law enforcement and roadside advice is all that is given. Can you tell the difference when you are mobile between which lights showing at the front of a vehicle are DRL,s Fogs or
auxiliary lighting ? No neither can I.Fog lights by design do not usually dazzle. How many of these incidents are forgetful people leaving High Beam on ?
Tj
Surely if you are in law enforcement you should be enforcing the law? Whilst fog lights might not dazzle you the law specifically states front and rear fog lights should not be used "at any time other than in conditions of seriously reduced visibility".
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Jeff,
I dont think my opinion holds any more water than anyone elses. I work in law enforcement and roadside advice is all that is given. Can you tell the difference when you are mobile between which lights showing at the front of a vehicle are DRL,s Fogs or
auxiliary lighting ? No neither can I.Fog lights by design do not usually dazzle. How many of these incidents are forgetful people leaving High Beam on ?
Tj
Surely if you are in law enforcement you should be enforcing the law? Whilst fog lights might not dazzle you the law specifically states front and rear fog lights should not be used "at any time other than in conditions of seriously reduced visibility".
Write your comments here...One law for them another law for us?!!!.
Mike
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Surely if you are in law enforcement you should be enforcing the law? Whilst fog lights might not dazzle you the law specifically states front and rear fog lights should not be used "at any time other than in conditions of seriously reduced visibility"..........
Another case of people not reading post carefully......Could you differentiate between Fog lights DRL,s Auxiliary lighting on the move irrespective of poor conditions visibility etc...or not ?...Well maybe you can most people including me cannot. To prosecute
there can be no uncertainty and there must be intent.. ....the issue here is manufacturers interpreting the law for the sake of style. Some vehicles I can think of actually share the same light fitting for DRL,s and Fog lights. IE one lens ...2 different bulbs.
This was never the case when the lighting regs were made law. Visibility or lack of it is a matter of opinion ... the drivers no one elses. Simple as that . Ever heard of see or be seen ?. That covers any ambiguity as far as I am concerned.Tj
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In my opinon DRL's are just another ill concieved idea foisted on us by the EU. Previously we had spent years educating drivers to see and be seen by using dipped headlights before it was pitch dark, now the very same people who were reluctant to light up early use DRL's as an excuse not to, some obviously oblivious to the fact that unlike my vehicle the majority only work on the front.
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I completely agree Vulcan. I am of a vintage where I used to be able to tell you the correct wattage for any given light location. Front side/marker lights from memory were 5 watts . Stop and tail 5/21w indicators 21w. Modern led drls are a lot more powerful than that. I am firmly of the opinion it is better to be seen than not . In poor visibility with modern permanantly lit dashboards people do forget to switch on lights. Drl,s are a positive step in that regard. Volvo had the right idea years ago with running lights front and rear on all the time.
Tj
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I find these auxillary lights + dipped headlights blinding on country roads and consider drivers who use them other than in poor visibility to be inconsiderate. My son in law was stopped by the police a few years ago for having them on when not needed but
of course there are too few patrols to enforce the law these days0 -
I find these auxillary lights + dipped headlights blinding on country roads and consider drivers who use them other than in poor visibility to be inconsiderate. My son in law was stopped by the police a few years ago for having them on when not needed but
of course there are too few patrols to enforce the law these daysI completely agree with kentman and I, like his son-in-law have been stopped for having the front foglights on. I hasten to add I was not aware that they were on. I also believe that rear foglights should not be used unless it is severe fog (less than 100
metres), they dazzle and some are quite close to stoplights and cannot be seen properly.0 -
..... I also believe that rear foglights should not be used unless it is severe fog (less than 100 metres), they dazzle and ....
Oh how I wish that people wouldn't turn their rear fogs at the slightest whiff of fog and especially around town. In 35+yrs of driving I doubt I've ever had need of them on more than a hand full of times! And they get uppety when you sit behind them with
your main beam on!
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