Those under-bumper lights in the UK?

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Somebody

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So, I never really understood this. Every country seems to have its specific laws/regulations/customs, and the UK (despite supposedly being part of the EU and therefore in theory completely standardized with the rest of it) has a lot of it's own weirdness. The one thing I never really understood is whats the deal with those under-bumper lights there? It seems every UK resident has their own opinion, and the law doesn't offer a decent explanation either.

There seems to be two different explanations given by two different generations of people

-Older people: They are front fog lamps, and are ONLY for use in fog or low visibility, and their use in normal driving is illegal and also socially frowned upon.

-Younger people: They are additional low-beam lamps to supplement the low beam of the main headlamps and increase visibility, and can be used any time you want, because they have a low beam pattern they don't dazzle people and are effectively like a 2nd pair of low-beam headlamps. They are unrelated to the 'front fog lamp' concept which died out some time in the dark distant past (along with the rolling free license bracket set at 25 years, leaded gas and parking facing away from the flow of traffic being illegal and enforced).

So, whats the deal? Does anybody know the defined answer to this?

Some people seem to drive around with them on all the time whenever their normal headlamps are on, some people call those first group of people stupid and pretentious, and some people call those 2nd ground of people outdated. Its confusing. While the law doesn't seem to say anything useful (unless it does?)
 
The law states

"You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves.
Law RVLR regs 25 & 27"
 
Under bumper? You mean fog lights! Fog lights are fog lights for when it's foggy! Amazing isn't it!
 
I love your description of how younger people think ...

What you mean is ' it looks well cool innit ? .... Especially when used with just sidelights as well , makes the car look low and mean bruv '

Fog lights are for when it's foggy.
 
Grumpy old men...at Christmas.
 
I think that with the increasing appearance of Daytime Running Lamps on new cars, fog lamps are being used more on non-DRL fitted cars to give a similar effect.
That and some of the woefully pathetic retrofitted LED strips that you see as well...
 
Know what you mean. Fitted some to my bathroom cabinet and they looked naff.
 
See, this is where it gets confusing, even people here instantly said they are fog lamps and dazzle people.

I though 'fog lamps' were like a 1970s thing, they were big and round and usually aftermarket fitted on top of the bumper, and are what gave the original Mini Cooper it's distinctive look from that movie. They did dazzle people.

But those lights that are fitted under the bumpers of 1980s and onwards cars, and are still fitted to current models, they have a beam pattern that's even lower than standard low beam, but a bit wider. They can't dazzle people any more than standard low-beams can (which are legal to use during the day, if you want, and mandatory in some jurisdictions). Besides, in a lot of jurisdictions it's prefectly legal to drive with those on, and nobody gets dazzled. And I noticed from being around in the UK occasionally, about 60% of people whos cars are fitted with these use them, whether legally or not.

Confusing...
 
Get some of these instead:D

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I thought they were called Pri** lights. You can instantly tell who's a pri**, because they have those lights on.
 
'driving lights' = above the bumper
'fog lights' = below the bumper

DRL's seemingly anywhere

Post 2 has quoted the law , it's not confusing.
 
They are foglamps

However, just to confuse things, some vehicles now have their DRL's (non-led) housed on the same place, so they are on in the daytime. General rule of thumb, if the sidelights are on, they are most likely foglights as they will not work without having the sidelights switched on.

If they are on solo, they will be DRL's.

I have also seen them used as a cheap version of 'cornering lamps' where the lamp comes on when you turn the wheel to put more light in that direction (the expensive xenon version have cornering lights which move in the cluster)

Funny thing is the LED DRL's are brighter than most foglamps, but the DRL's are legal and foglamps are not
 
I must admit I've never looked for this, but front fogs are supposed to be marked with the letter "B" as part of their EU approval. If so minded, a Police Officer could look for that mark on a lamp that someone claimed was a driving lamp.

I don't think that, legally, there's any such thing as dip driving lamps - there's a minimum height requirment for driving lamps which I forget and can't be bothered to look up, but it's quite a big distance and there's no way any normal car can have driving lamps under the bumper.

People do get their knickers in a twist about this - I had an old bloke have a right go at me when I unlocked my car while walking back to it at a filling station and the front fogs came on as it was under cover, and I've heard of police officers speaking to people for the same reason or when the car has cornering lights.


I would also add that I havn't driven a car for many years where the front fogs were any use as driving lamps - both our cars have them and they provide no useful illumination even in the dark country lanes around where we live. Years ago I had a Sierra and the front fogs on that where very useful.
 
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I always understood that fog were used in fog or reduced visibility such as falling snow.

The beam from these lights is cut off so that it illuminates low down and sideways for when you are driving more slowly in reduced visibility.

They are designed to illuminate the road immediately ahead (because you are driving slowly) and the verge (because of the possibility of not seeing verges, kerb edges etc) but the crux of the matter is this; in a built up area with street lighting, there are very few instances when they should be used.

If you use dipped or main beam in these conditions, there is a greater chance of bounce back or white out.

Except to indicate to all and sundry that your car is fitted with them or to make some some of fashion statement or to indicate the mentality of the driver.

Or am I being old fashioned?
 
They look good IMHO when switched on so unless they are dazzling other drivers auxiliary light users should be left well alone law breakers or not!!
Over principled pomposity should stay at home with its slippers on ;)

IIR:-
Spot lights = Above bumper mounted round bright lights similar to additional "full beam"
Fog lights = Sometimes as above and sometimes mounted below bumper where they are rarely dazzling if properly aligned
Day Running lights = Relatively recent approved and legal lighting designed to be on all the time
Cornering lamps = As above but activated by turning in low light conditions below certain speeds I think?
 
Fog lights are for driving in fog.

Fog hovers about a foot off the ground due to earth/road temperature. Therefore in proper fog your headlights are in the fog and cause road blindness as their light reflects off the water droplets. Your fog lights are focused at short range below the blanket of fog and therefore do not reflect off the water in the air. Their range is also short because you should be driving slow due to weather... Main beam will dazzle you.

Driving with fogs on without fog is a fashion statement. And DRLs are potentially a reason not to buy a car. If you are moving at any speed and need the ten feet in front of your car illuminated you are not looking where you should be: that's basic stuff.
 
If you drive all the time with fog lamps on then I just think

a: you're unable to operate the controls on your car properly
b: if you think you need them on all the time then you're not looking at the correct piece of tarmac or you have eyesight problems.

either way, it just makes me think that driver shouldn't be on the road..........

To those who thinks it looks 'cool' and doesn't dazzle other users, ever followed another car on a clear night that has the rear fog lights on? Bet you thought they looked cool as well and in no way annoying and distracting.
 
Fog lamps are absolutely no supplement to dip or full beam when driving at normal speeds. They are for fog and that is the law as already stated. Anyone who uses fog lamps in normal conditions is just a pillock. It doesn't look good, it's not cool. Displaying any additional bright white light on a vehicle at night is just selfish. Foglamps and DRL's at night just dazzle or at the very least make it more uncomfortable for drivers travelling in the opposite direction, particularly if they wear glasses.
 
I can't remember the last time I saw someone driving with their front flog lights on, foggy or not.

Thankfully, only a small minority use rear fogs these days too, which are only useful in a true blanket of fog, and when you're genuinely the last car in the line.
 
I can't remember the last time I saw someone driving with their front flog lights on, foggy or not.

Thankfully, only a small minority use rear fogs these days too, which are only useful in a true blanket of fog, and when you're genuinely the last car in the line.

Auto lights probably has a lot to do with that. Set and forget from day 1 of ownership.
 

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