Bicycler wrote:The law requires rear fog light to be off where visibility is greater than 100m. Whilst I don't expect such a rule to be enforced with tape measure precision it would really help if some of the driving population understood the difference between a bit of misty morning and thick fog. Unless visibility is seriously reduced to the extent that you cannot see the ordinary rear lamps of the vehicle in front at a suitable distance then they do more harm than good. In all cases drivers should slow down rather than rely completely upon other vehicles being lit with fog lights. Cyclists don't have them, neither do pedestrians, nor older cars. IME a significant proportion of the population don't know how to turn theirs on. As always, people should be able to stop within the distance they can see to be clear.
This. If you can see the tail lights of the car ahead, then they can see your lights too, and fogs aren't needed.
beardy wrote:I think that on every car that I have had the foglight indicator is well away from other instruments and lights and in or near to the switch. I dont look at my switches (or gear lever) when I am driving.
If I was to ever use the foglight then I would be in the habit of checking that is was off (I remember I used to check my choke knob about every five minutes back when such things existed).
I'm very surprised there aren't small repeater lamps in your instrument clusters. I don't think I've had a car which wasn't thus fitted.
squeaker wrote:Car IP designers have a bit of a problem here. For obvious (?) reasons the 'rear foglight on' warning light doesn't want to be too obtrusive when driving in fog, but then it's not very obvious under half-light / dull day conditions....
I think the foglight indicators in my car are perfectly obvious, whatever the conditions: right in the middle of the fascia.
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity. Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments... --- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Bonefishblues wrote:....As said earlier front fogs if correctly adjusted should be throwing a broad beam directly in front of the car,
But in dark unlit (but non foggy) night conditions its still extra light for an oncoming drivers eyes to deal with: ie unnecessary glare....
Inasmuch as it represents a small amount of additional light entering the iris, yes, if you define that as "glare". I don't define glare in that way. As I said, incorrectly adjusted front foglights are a different matter.
SA_SA_SA wrote:Shouldn't car regulations be updated to require a "latched relay" style switch, that reverts to off when the car is restarted (ie when ignition is switched off):
that would correct the"forgot to switch off" a lot of the time: I think the USA might require that for rear fog lamps
I agree, but our Clio only switches off the rear foglights.
Mick F wrote:Our Clio has a stupid light switch. You can turn on the headlights by rotating the stalk thingy, and it has a detent on it that only allows the front and rear foglights to be turned when the headlights are on. The foglight bit of the stalk has two positions - front only, and then front and rear together.
BUT .......
When you turn the headlights off, the fog light bit only rotates back one click, so next time you turn on your headlights, the front foglights are still on.
Maybe that's why some folk have them on all the time?
661-Pete wrote:I think the foglight indicators in my car are perfectly obvious, whatever the conditions: right in the middle of the fascia.
But not universal. On Our Fiat Sedici (& possibly the Suzuki SX4 as it is the same car) the rear fog light control is on the lights stalk (& switches off when you switch off the lights) but the front fog switch has the light in the switch & is well away from the instruments on the right, just above knee level (no 6 in diagram).
Fiat Sedici instruments (Click to enlarge)
Rick.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
661-Pete wrote:I think the foglight indicators in my car are perfectly obvious, whatever the conditions: right in the middle of the fascia.
But not universal. On Our Fiat Sedici (& possibly the Suzuki SX4 as it is the same car) the rear fog light control is on the lights stalk (& switches off when you switch off the lights) but the front fog switch has the light in the switch & is well away from the instruments on the right, just above knee level (no 6 in diagram).
sedici instruments.JPG
Rick.
Good point - green indicator light on a switch just to the right of ones right hand holding the wheel in the quarter to three position.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way.No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse. There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Side lights that are still better than most cyclists would have on their bikes? The cars will also be moving a bit faster than cycles giving more time to see them and react when coming from behind which means in the same lane. That is the problem with these lights they (yet again) shift the responsibility from those who should be looking to those who are to be seen.
some people confuse them for driving lamps, and a lot of cars have now, day light lamps, as for the LAW, does not mean that people will follow it, whether you are a driver or cyclist.
driving around with full beam seems normal for some!
[XAP]Bob wrote:Because they look cool. Because we have no road traffic police any more.
And because the drivers of such cars are generally idiots. Don't get me started on motor vehicle light infringements they seem at epidemic proportions around these parts
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
