Rear fog lights

[markjay]

It dazzles following drivers.

Why would those behind me be dazzled, if I am not dazzled by those in front of me?

 

[neilrr]

There have been occasions when I would have dearly loved to have one fog light on my bicycle, but I guess that's of little relevance here.

Some of the comments on here regarding (mis)use of fog lamps in rain/mist etc are rather concerning..

I'm amazed at the ignorance.

Fog or mist or rain... I just switch my rear fog light on during day time when I can see drivers ahead of me using theirs and their cars seem much easier to spot than those who don't have them on.... when it works for me, it will work for those behind me.

If you saw other drivers rubbing sh1t on their heads would you do that too?

 

[baxlin]

Never put your rear fog lamp on in rain or spray conditions, it's really bad for following drivers, hence it's illegal.

If it's good enough for Formula 1 at race speeds it's good enough for me, and as has been said above, if I'm not dazzled by the car in front, the guy behind won't be by mine, if he is, he's driving too close.

BTW, is it illegal, I thought they were for use in reduced visibility, but must admit, I don't have the driver's manual to hand, which would give advice as to their use.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

I'm curious about this, can it be done without activating the bulb failure error on Mercs?

As for the masking brake lights, what about a failed nearside brake light bulb in such circumstances?

 

[grumpyoldgit]

www.gov.uk

Driving in adverse weather conditions (226 to 237)
1. Overview (226)
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

 

[def90cars]

www.gov.uk

Driving in adverse weather conditions (226 to 237)
1. Overview (226)
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

Perfect answer.... go to the top of the class.

DM.... you are right about it being a cost saving. Some cars started with two and changed to one.
MOT only tests for one.... either in the middle (like MINIs) or on the right of the car.

 

[markjay]

Now I am confused...

It is dangerous to switch-on the rear fog lights when visibility is reduced due to rain rather than fog, though the law says you must do so in all circumstances when visibility is reduced?

 

[markjay]

I'm amazed at the ignorance.

If you saw other drivers rubbing sh1t on their heads would you do that too?

Well if the choice was between rubbing sh1t on my head and crashing at high speed on the motorway, then I think the answer is obvious....


....I would give up driving!

 

[Dieselman]

Now I am confused...

It is dangerous to switch-on the rear fog lights when visibility is reduced due to rain rather than fog, though the law says you must do so in all circumstances when visibility is reduced?

By Fog.

Rain doesn't reduce visibility in the same way. Rear fog lights cause the driver behind to suffer dazzle due to refraction on the rain on their windscreen.

All you really need to know is that although it's a recent fad to switch them on in rain, it's illegal for a reason.

 

[GP801]

I have the 124 set up with a rear foglight both sides. Had to get a LHD bulbholder though. However I take out the nearside bulb depending on whether its in the UK or Italy. In France it would appear that almost every car has two rear fog lights. The bulb monitoring seems happy with this arrangement but whether it would on a more modern car I dont know.

 

[chrisjfinlay]

Man, I WISH people here would over-use their fog lights. Right now, nobody on the Isle of Man bothers with them. Or any lights. In thick-as-all-hell fog. It's no fun trying to see a silver car with no lights on in a fog that you'd lose your own hand in...

Edit: Lights here seem to confuse all the drivers. High beams all the time, even during the day. No or incorrect indication. I'm glad I started my driving lessons in the mainland UK. My instructor here once told me to indicate right to take the 12 o'clock exit at a 4-road roundabout. He got very confused when I did and then proceeded to take the 3 o'clock.

 

[Troon]

Never put your rear fog lamp on in rain or spray conditions, it's really bad for following drivers, hence it's illegal.

I know that's the rule, and I'm usually a stickler for regs and correct use of fog lamps (i.e. off for almost all situations).

However, I have driven in certain conditions where rear fog lamp use in heavy spray has been the right thing to do — after heavy rain on a busy motorway when the sun comes out. The spray behind cars makes them almost completely invisible: rear fogs can help penetrate the glare from the sun on the low-level spray and provide cues as to where the car is. Because of the bright ambient conditions, the fog lamps aren't at all dazzling.

It's not strictly illegal to use fogs in this situation: the regulation specifies "seriously reduced visibility" as the criterion.

The common-sense question one should ask oneself is "would my vehicle be visible any sooner to approaching traffic with my rear fog on?"; or alternatively "would I like the vehicle in front of me to have their rear fog on?"

 

[chrisjfinlay]

The common-sense question one should ask oneself is "would my vehicle be visible any sooner to approaching traffic with my rear fog on?"; or alternatively "would I like the vehicle in front of me to have their rear fog on?"

THAT is the million dollar question. There is a difference between the letter of the law (i.e. don't do that, don't do that, don't touch that, no stop that) and the SPIRIT of the law (i.e. Be safe).

 

[Dieselman]

The common-sense question one should ask oneself is "would my vehicle be visible any sooner to approaching traffic with my rear fog on?"; or alternatively "would I like the vehicle in front of me to have their rear fog on?"

It is certainly more visible, but blinding tot he following driver.

There is a reason it is illegal and they are called FOG lights.

Putting them on in rain or spray is an incredibly selfish thing to do.

 

[Troon]

It is certainly more visible, but blinding tot he following driver.

There is a reason it is illegal and they are called FOG lights.

Putting them on in rain or spray is an incredibly selfish thing to do.

I deliberately said "visible any sooner" rather than "more visible". This is how I make the decision in real fog: do the cars in front of me without fogs on disappear into the murk significantly sooner than those with fogs on, and how does that threshold distance compare with the car immediately behind me?

In the situation I portrayed (and have experienced a couple of times), cars were invisible in the brightly sunlit spray without rear fogs on. I was glad that the car I was following had theirs on, as it allowed me to see them as opposed to not see them. For the same reason, I turned mine on for the short period that those conditions continued.

I agree it's rare, and fogs should not in general be used in spray — but edge cases do occur. As always, use common sense and try to visualize what the car behind sees of your car.

 

[baxlin]

It is certainly more visible, but blinding tot he following driver.

There is a reason it is illegal and they are called FOG lights.

Putting them on in rain or spray is an incredibly selfish thing to do.

Humour me, though, DM, please. If I'm following you in heavy spray on a motorway, put your rear fog on, so I can see you, especially if your car is silver.

I promise I won't tell Plod.

 

[Dieselman]

Humour me, though, DM, please. If I'm following you in heavy spray on a motorway, put your rear fog on, so I can see you, especially if your car is silver.

I promise I won't tell Plod.

You won't need to as I won't be so antisocial...

The problem with modern cars is they have too many buttons for people to play with.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

If this link doesn't display the 'LIGHTS IN FOG' page, click on it in the menu header.

SmartDriving

 

[brucemillar]

My W203 Mercs have most useless interior fog light warnings known to man. A small orange and green bulb on the light switch denotes that you fog lights are on. Nothing on the dash. So I am not hugely surprised when I come across other W203 drivers who have left their fogs on.

It is interesting to note that the MOT test station I use also picked up on this. As the tester said they have to be visible when driving. This is stretching visible I think.

 

[Troon]

SmartDriving

From that page:

"If the fog is really thick, use full headlights and spot-lamps" (whatever "spot lamps" are), followed by the contradictory but correct "full lights are no use because the fog will simply reflect the light back making it harder to see".

I learned something, though:

"If the fog is really dense at night, switch off your headlights but leave on your front fog lamps other drivers will still be able to see you"

Although this is effective in very dense fog with good fog lamps (rather than styling devices), I thought this was illegal and reached for the rulebook to write a scathing rebuttal, but RVLR 1989 Part III Reg 25 (2)(b)(ii) clearly permits this if visibility is seriously reduced.