Do you use fog lights at the first hint of fog

[artyman]

Worse is fog lights in the rain in town, reflects everywhere, some folk turn them on and never remember to turn them off

 

[Ted]

Drove to Kent and back yesterday. Patchy fog between perfectly clear and quite foggy.
Other than saying there were lots of drivers with rear fogs on in perfectly clear conditions, I will make no further comment on their decision.
For me, going down in daylight
Clear - drls on. Nothing else.
Light fog - headlights on - nothing else
Heavier fog, choose the moment when there is nothing close behind, and rear fog on. Rear fog off as soon as possible.
Front fogs weren't used.
On the return it was dark, so headlights only where it was clear, front fogs where the speed was below around fifty and there was significant fog, but there was little benefit. Rear fogs as per the journey down.
Couple of things I noticed, there are way more vehicles with two rear fogs than I thought. I thought that most cars had a single light. These did mask the brake lights.
And Volkswagens were the best. A very small but intense light that really cuts through the thicker patches without dazzling or masking the brakes. The latest Passat was great on this.
Finally, I don't know if it is just me, but some of the led indicators seemed to be more green than amber in the fog.

 

[219]

If she was on the M1 late Friday night then they were still on !



A little research confirms it's illegal to use fog lights when they are not warranted by the conditions. "Seriously reduced visibility" is the wording in the actual law and the highway code gives as guidance "100m visibility".

It's a legal requirement for cars to be fitted with at least one rear fog light and it's illegal to use them inappropriately but perversely there doesn't seem to be a legal requirement to use them when they are really needed.

It depends on the age of the car - from memory fitting became compulsory late 70's ( I'd guess around 76 or 77 ) - earlier cars which didn't need them when new still aren't required to have them now .

 

[lfckeeper]

Prove it.

Prove what? That they're safer? Its utterly ludicrous to suggest otherwise. So long as they're mixed in a laboratory using medical grade ingredients and have been rigorously tested to test the emissions.

 

[lfckeeper]

So you're profiting from this switch over from a harmful product that has taken decades to convince people is harmful.

And now providing them with a 'safe' alternative that will IMO inevitably prove to be less safe than is conveniently assumed at the moment.

Yes im profiting from people switching, like Boots have from Nicotine patches for years.

Why inevitably? Now new regulations are in (which should rid the UK of the cheap horrible nasty £1 shop stuff) all liquids will have to be made in a lab and tested.

Its funny how people take offence to a particular thing that they have 0 knowledge about and have read horror stories in tabloid newspapers. (Im assuming)

 

[french]

? The only person here to mention taking any offence is you...
As far as being safe I couldn't care either way imo they look ridiculous & IMO so do smokers, can't think of much else being more silly than smoking & choking your self to death.

 

[PobodY]

Prove what? That they're safer? Its utterly ludicrous to suggest otherwise. So long as they're mixed in a laboratory using medical grade ingredients and have been rigorously tested to test the emissions.

It's not ludicrous to suggest that there may be unpredicted safety issues, but I definitely agree that they're less harmful that "traditional" tobacco products.

It's the shonky products made in the far east that I'd be worried about; who knows what they've put in them?

We haven't found anything particularly concerning in the products we've tested; maybe more nickel than you might expect, but still not as much as you might find in tobacco. However, we've only tested products from tobacco companies looking to diversify.

 

[lfckeeper]

? The only person here to mention taking any offence is you...
As far as being safe I couldn't care either way imo they look ridiculous & IMO so do smokers, can't think of much else being more silly than smoking & choking your self to death.

Hope you understand why I would take offence.

Some look quite good and the technology being used now is amazing but I do appreciate how to some they look silly.... and you won't hear me disagree at all with your latter point ... my staff are told to actively discourage non smokers from using ecig/vaping products (we actually get people who have never smoked asking about them )

Apologies to all for the hijack.

Back to fog lights!

As some one mentioned earlier if ive trouble seeing the car in front mine go on.

 

[lfckeeper]

It's not ludicrous to suggest that there may be unpredicted safety issues, but I definitely agree that they're less harmful that "traditional" tobacco products.

It's the shonky products made in the far east that I'd be worried about; who knows what they've put in them?

We haven't found anything particularly concerning in the products we've tested; maybe more nickel than you might expect, but still not as much as you might find in tobacco. However, we've only tested products from tobacco companies looking to diversify.

Thats always my point .... safer.

Your absolutely right about dodgy products from the far east. Ive seen what some have in them! Its not good.

Actually maybe I've wrongly taken offence, because some products on the market are very very dodgy. So my apologies. I guess wanting to defend my business (I take great care in ensuring all the products I sell are of the highest quality) came to the fore. Thankfully new regulations will hopefully stop dangerous liquids and hardware being sold.

Again more apologies for thread hijacking...

 

[Tiim533]

Put them on for the first time on Friday night driving up the A14 through Bury St Edmunds. Also the front adaptive lights did their thing once the rear figs were on. Visibility down to 30m.

 

[gr1nch]

OP, not generally if it's light fog. If it's low dense fog I'll put on the rears as it's low down and I want vehicles behind me to really know my car is there. If it's "high fog" and seeing beneath it is a benefit, particularly for the sides of the road if it's bendy, then I'll put the fronts on.

 

[G.P]

Couple of things I noticed, there are way more vehicles with two rear fogs than I thought. I thought that most cars had a single light. These did mask the brake lights.

An IMO it's ^ this that causes Fog lights to be dangerous, because you can see the car in front clearly many drivers then keep up the same speed as the driver in front thinking there safe as they can see those fog lights, regardless of it's it's going to fast or not for the conditions, and secondly, if it's got two fog lights, it brakes and is far less noticeable.

For me without fog lamps we would all travel slower with greater distance in reduced visibility conditions, as we should. Perhaps a different colour fog lamp would be safer..

 

[190]

I swear some of the ones I saw were brighter than the brake lights. The advent of LED lights also means there is no consistency in brightness between one vehicle and another and the law doesn't seem to be providing any guidance to prevent that happening.

Given that fog lights were introduced a long time ago when rear lights were not as bright as they are today perhaps they need to be re-thought from scratch as ramping up the lumens is not doing anything for safety. And lets face it regardless of the fact that it's a legal requirement, there is no chance that they will be used sensibly i.e. only when visibility is below 100 M.

 

[Ted]

I think that may be the way they are housed/reflectors.
Remember the SD1? The rear fogs were like static lighthouse beacons, but were the same21 watt bulbs as all the rest.

 

[zipdip]

Well I drove from Harwich to Huntingdon and back the other day,there was a light mist and of course we had the must have the fog lights on,a general rule of thumb is if you can see 3 lamp posts and I do not mean pin sharp leave the fog lights off,as the day wore on people still had them on even though the mist had lifted,and then on the run home,no fog but getting dark,I counted 6 cars with daylight running lights so no lights to the rear,as the years go on we seem to have more brain dead drivers.