Make Them Stop . . .

Drax

I've had enough of these ejits who drive around with their fog lights on. Last night I had some guy some up behind, 4 lovely bright lights shining in my rear view mirror. So in some sort of futile attempt to make him realise I switched on my rear fog light, only to be met with countless full beam flashes. In the end I overtook the car in front so he wasnt behind me anymore. Anyway after that I suddenly became even more aware of how many people are driving around like this. It seems particularly noticable that more newer cars do this. (Although I suppose its difficult to find a older car these days!) My question is this. Why...????? The extra amount of projected light is small in comparison to the beam from the dipped lights, as they are usually focused downwards. (Correct me if I am wrong). I guess then it is more of a case of "My car has 4 headlights and yours doesnt" syndrome? Is it an offence to drive with them on? I definitely think there should be an ad campaign to educate people to let them know how incredibly annoying they are (when not in fog of course )

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

fog lights don't shine up wards.... they are designed to be below the bumper and light the road around the immediate front of the car...

Stephen

They still seem to be fantastically good at blinding me from behind. Perhaps it is because my car is very low. Either way, they should ****ing well be off unless weather conditions require them.

Thats what that little switch on your rear view mirror is for

fletch

I am so sick of people complaining about people using their fog lights....I use mine all the time, except when it's raining because they do dazzle oncoming traffic.
Anything that makes me more visible to other road users is a good thing in my opinion.

Anan1

fletch wrote:

I am so sick of people complaining about people using their fog lights....I use mine all the time, except when it's raining because they do dazzle oncoming traffic.
Anything that makes me more visible to other road users is a good thing in my opinion.

Is it actually possible to switch off the fog lights on a BMW?

comanche

ronoc wrote:

Thats what that little switch on your rear view mirror is for

not in the middle of the day!

fog lights are lights for the fog - hence the name.

they don't do any good. they don't look cool. turn them off its simple.

comanche

comanche wrote:

not in the middle of the day!

fog lights are lights for the fog - hence the name.

they don't do any good. they don't look cool. turn them off its simple.

If you are getting dazzled by fog lights during the day I would advise you to get your eyes tested.

Seriously

fletch

Anan1 wrote:

Is it actually possible to switch off the fog lights on a BMW?

Well I don't actually have a BMW so I couldn't tell ya

ronoc wrote:

If you are getting dazzled by fog lights during the day I would advise you to get your eyes tested.
Seriously

Agree 100%

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Anan1 wrote:

Is it actually possible to switch off the fog lights on a BMW?

you pay extra for lights on a BMW....

i think you thinking of the two Scandinavia car companies, Volvo and Saab.
and no it not.... unless you remove a fuse that forces them on every time the car is started.

Drax

fletch wrote:

I am so sick of people complaining about people using their fog lights....I use mine all the time, except when it's raining because they do dazzle oncoming traffic.
Anything that makes me more visible to other road users is a good thing in my opinion.

Fletch, do you use you dipped beams at the same time? Or just have the parking lights on? Are you telling me that an approaching car with 4 lights on is more visible than one with just the dipped lights on? I disagree.

You are right though, the more visibility the better. Motorcycles for example should always have their lights on. But having fogs and dips on in a car is overkill (unless it is foggy of course).

And as for Volvos and Saabs, those are the dipped beams that come on automatically. Apparently it is the law in Scandinavia that you have your lights on.

fletch

Drax wrote:

Fletch, do you use you dipped beams at the same time? Or just have the parking lights on? Are you telling me that an approaching car with 4 lights on is more visible than one with just the dipped lights on? I disagree.

You are right though, the more visibility the better. Motorcycles for example should always have their lights on. But having fogs and dips on in a car is overkill (unless it is foggy of course).

I use dipped beams at the same time....I personally find cars with their front fogs on at the same time as parking lights very confusing. I have never once found front fogs(once properly aligned) used during the day dazzling save for those occasions when it's raining.

comanche

fletch wrote:

Well I don't actually have a BMW so I couldn't tell ya
Agree 100%

even been dazzled by someone with full beams on during the day? Same thing just have to get caught by them at the wrong angle - get it alot on country roads mostly on hills...

If ppl want to be seen put on your dims - thats what I do.

If people want a fashion accessory buy yourself a handbag

fletch

comanche wrote:

even been dazzled by someone with full beams on during the day? Same thing just have to get caught by them at the wrong angle - get it alot on country roads mostly on hills...

Fair point but theres nothing you can do about that and if a cars front fogs are pointing upwards, then it's not the fact that the lights are on that is the problem, it's the fact that there are misalighned

comanche wrote:

If people want a fashion accessory buy yourself a handbag

Big Balls

It's worse driving a car with xenons and people with fogs and headlights flashing you at night thinking you have your beams on!

The funny bit is showing them you weren't using your beams.

Fogs are illegal when it isn't foggy. That said, I don't see the problem using them in the daylight - nighttime - they DO dazzle you.

Drax

fletch wrote:

I personally find cars with their front fogs on at the same time as parking lights very confusing.

And I personally find cars with their front fogs on at the same time as dipped lights on very annoying :rolleyes:

I think we can moan about this topic all day but its clear that people are not going to change... Maybe its time to start banging heads off walls while at the same time repeating... I will not use my fog lights when not in fog. But I dont think that will happen. :eek:

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Big Balls wrote:

- nighttime - they DO dazzle you.

if your a worm on the road....

the whole idea of fog lights is the light from them doesnt rise above your bumper... therefore in fog, you have better visibility that with your heads or dips shining up into the fog.

jessssssssssssus ... are they that hard to understand.

Big Balls

Drax, do a search. Many have tried and failed on Boards.ie but we salute them none the less.

fletch

Big Balls wrote:

Fogs are illegal when it isn't foggy.

Really? Have you got a link to the particular law/act? I'd be interested in reading it.

Big Balls wrote:

That said, I don't see the problem using them in the daylight - nighttime - they DO dazzle you.

Agree 100%

Big Balls

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

jessssssssssssus ... are they that hard to understand.

Come 'ere you fool, if the actual light was pointed towards the road nobody would see in the fog. If they light up nothing but in front of the car and don't pose any problems for drivers then why;

1) do we get people moaning about them every week

2) are they illegal when used in conditions other than fog

prospect

I agree 100% with the OP. Fog lights are for fog.

Anyone who use them all the time should get penalty points. And don't give me improved safety, high visability B.S. It is just a cretins attempt to look COOL....

Big Balls

fletch wrote:

Really? Have you got a link to the particular law/act? I'd be interested in reading it.

No I'm a bit busy, sorry.

If you'd like to call a mate of mine who was pulled by a very busy copper on the M50 for having his fogs on, you can PM me.

fletch

Big Balls wrote:

No I'm a bit busy, sorry.

If you'd like to call a mate of mine who was pulled by a very busy copper on the M50 for having his fogs on, you can PM me.

I had heard of a few guys I work with (from the North) being pulled over alright but I've never heard of it down South. Then again one of them was driving a heavily modded Saxo VTS so I presumed the cops were just looking for any excuse to pull him.

padraigmyers

From the Rules Of The Road (page 56):

Fog lights should only be used during fog and should be turned off at all other times.

To the ****wits who leave them on so they can be seen, why don't you just paint your car in high-vis yellow pain and be done with it.....

MrPudding

http://www.irlgov.ie/debates-03/29Jan/Sect20.htm

Item 769.

MrP

fletch

padraigmyers wrote:

From the Rules Of The Road.

MrPudding wrote:

http://www.irlgov.ie/debates-03/29Jan/Sect20.htm

Kool, no arguing with the facts I suppose....will be leaving them off in future but I still maintain that they do not dazzle other road users during the day

fletch

padraigmyers wrote:

From the Rules Of The Road

Off topic but are those rules of the road official yet? I notice that they are for public consultation.

flanzer

Fair enough, this document is from the Dept. of Transport (the same shower of pencil pushing w*nkers who have our road and rail systems is a fcuking mess) A lot of what they say is pretty damn obvious.

But come on, fog lights DON'T dazzle, no matter what the weather or light conditions are. Xenons DO and I don't see anyone debating this topic. Oh yeah..... Don't Xenons now come standard on Top Marque cars like BMW, Mercs, Bentleys..... Oh and don't the government sit back and watch the states coffers bulge with cash as the apply a higher rate of VRT on these cars...Yep... An no one bats a eyelid.

Mind you, while Xenon lights are becoming increasingly popular. I still have no problem with them in the same way as fog lights.

I can't see many guards pulling in cars with their Xenons on, can you?

*rant over*

Seanie M

fletch wrote:

I am so sick of people complaining about people using their fog lights....I use mine all the time, except when it's raining because they do dazzle oncoming traffic.
Anything that makes me more visible to other road users is a good thing in my opinion.

That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

You know guys, the combined power of dipped plus fogs is as great in luminosity as hi-beams.

Turn off your fogs unless they're needed, plain and simple. Especially for vans and jeeps.

Blazer

remember i was stopped by a garda checkpoint one night and the cop was saying that there was some amount of lights on the car..it's a 05 primera..and the main lights are split into 3 (nissan design),,he say absolutely nothing bout my fogs which were also on..way i look at it is that there a lot of assholes on the roads that have no clue how to drive or make an attempt to read the rules of the roads..so if u can't beat them join them and be an asshole as well..even if it's just fogs that are on..my rearview mirror is autodimming so no probs from behind either

Big Balls

flanzer wrote:

Xenons DO

Xenons, unlike anything else, move with the car so more than anything they will adjust to ensure the don't blind oncoming drivers, if you look AT them fair enough, they're bright but you're meant to be looking at the road.

flanzer wrote:

I can't see many guards pulling in cars with their Xenons on, can you?
*rant over*

Why would they when they're perfectly legal? :rolleyes:

flanzer wrote:

Don't Xenons now come standard on Top Marque cars like BMW, Mercs, Bentleys.....

No, by and large, they don't come standard on Mercs and BMWs (very few come with standard) - Bentleys I'm not sure.

flanzer

Big Balls wrote:

Xenons, unlike anything else, move with the car so more than anything they will adjust to ensure the don't blind oncoming drivers, if you look AT them fair enough, they're bright but you're meant to be looking at the road.

The exact same can be said for fog lights on a far lesser scale! And I'm not talking about looking at them close up, I mean generally from 400 meters Xenons can be dazzling but by the time the driver passes me I'm over the whole situation and don't feel obliged to start a rant thread about any sort of lights!

Big Balls wrote:

Why would they when they're perfectly legal? :rolleyes:

That's my point. They ARE legal and have more dazzling properties than standard fog lights!

Drax

Mathew Reilly wrote:

way i look at it is that there a lot of assholes on the roads that have no clue how to drive or make an attempt to read the rules of the roads..so if u can't beat them join them and be an asshole as well.

Yea, good attitude there. No wonder there are so many tossers on the roads. :mad:

fletch

Seanie M wrote:

You know guys, the combined power of dipped plus fogs is as great in luminosity as hi-beams.

The "combined power" may be the same, however their range/angle/direction are not.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Big Balls wrote:

Come 'ere you fool, if the actual light was pointed towards the road nobody would see in the fog. If they light up nothing but in front of the car and don't pose any problems for drivers then why;

let me explain in simple terms for you...

the reason they are pointed down toward the road is so one doesnt get the refection from the little water droplets in the fog ( yes a fog is made up of water droplets)
just like if you put on your head lights in foggy conditions all you see is a white hase in front of the car...well that's the light form you car refection back from the little water droplets...
dims seem better in fog because you don't get as much reflection coming back to the driver as your dims are facing down...
and proper fogs lights are best of all because they are so low to the ground and do not shine up, therefore reducing the reelection even more...

and it funny you should say
"if the actual light was pointed towards the road nobody would see in the fog" because that is exactly why they are pointed towards the road and not up into the fog....say like full beams...

and it also funny you should say "Come 'ere you fool"
because that is exactly what you have just made your self out to be...

go back to school and learn a bit of physics even better try this experiment...
drive around in foggy conditions with your full beams on and see how long you last, then switch to dims and you will see much better even with the lower light...

kikel

I only use foglights front and back during fog. But i don't see what the big deal is with people complaining about their use. Correctly focused lights don't dazzle anybody. Incorrectly focused dims, fogs lights and foreign cars on our roads dazzle other drivers.

If people want to use them, let them on. lets learn to accept them. If their lights are incorrectly adjusted/focuede slow down as is advised in the rules of the road.

Seanie M

Look guys, those that deliberately drive with their foglights on - it is illegal, ESPECIALLY at night, if weather conditions do not require them (NOT DRIVING CONDITIONS). It does dazzle in the rear view mirror no matter what angle the lights are at, so stop splitting hairs about that!

To those that must maintain that I put mine on all the time and I don't care, thank you for taking away part of the pleasure of driving by wrecking our field of vision with extra glare into our rear view and side mirrors. Your advice of flick your mirror to the other position is sound advice.

Tossers.

WizZard

Wow, this is heated. I intensely dislike it when people use fog lights when there is no fog, but I put it down to ignorance mainly. Just because you are not dazzled/startled/distracted by someone else's lights doesn't mean they're not dazzled by yours.
In any case I didn't know it was illegal til now, but I'm glad I now know that when I'm explaining to friends/others that fog lights during the day are bad.

I do think that dipped headlights should be used 24/7 in this country though.

ninty9er

If you don't Believe they improve visability, stop on a dark road some night and switch them on, then off. You'll notice a difference in the ditches and directly infront of the car

AND THEY POINT DOWN, so if you're getting dazzled GET AN EYE TEST

WizZard

Stop shouting.
5 feet of extra visibility to the side (and front) might be quite useful on a dark night on a country road, but not at midday in the 'burbs.
I've had an eye test thank you, and I have pretty much 20/20 vision.
Have you ever heard of reflection? Look it up - it can happen from a wet road when someone has their fog lights on.
Is it just not cool enough to use your dipped headlights to be visible?

With dipped headlights you are more visible to others, so why not use them as opposed to fog lights which are not designed to be used without fog/snow.

digweed

iirc fog lights are designed so that you can be seen better in fog (ever had the expierence of a car coming at you in the fog without them on). the reflection pattern from the lens is designed to throw light out and away from it and its not focused like a dip beam is. its worse when they are not aligned properly.

peasant

Well ...here's what wikipedia knows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_lighting#Front_fog_lamps

Use of the front fog lamps when visibility is not seriously reduced is often prohibited (for example in the United Kingdom), as they can cause increased glare to other drivers, particularly in wet pavement conditions, as well as harming the driver's own vision due to excessive foreground illumination

overdriver

fletch wrote:

Kool, no arguing with the facts I suppose....will be leaving them off in future but I still maintain that they do not dazzle other road users during the day

maintain what you like. Why do people complain about them then? They DO dazzle.

Let's have a poll!

WizZard

Ah I like this quote:

Nobody thinks your car is cool because it has fog lamps, and glare is dangerous, so do yourself and everyone a favor: choose them carefully, aim them properly, use them thoughtfully, and leave them off except when they're genuinely necessary.

From here

Hotblack Desiato

The comments about people complaining about glare "needing to have their eyes tested" etc. are complete rubbish.

Just as different people have better eyesight than others, some people are more sensitive to glare than others, but the two things are NOT the same.

Actually, the poorer your vision the less focused dazzling lights will be on your retina, so it's probably LESS likely to bother you, if anything.

Also, people with cataracts probably won't be complaining about it either...

Anyway. Message to all foglight users - Quit being so damn selfish. What good does it do you anyway, if someone dazzled or distracted by your stupid foglights is more likely to crash into you as a result? Anything that distracts or discomforts other road users is a danger to them and anyone in their vicinity, and that includes you.

Oh and not everyone has dipping rear mirrors, I'm a biker. Also in daylight dipping your mirror leaves you with practically no rear view at all. On my way home from work this evening (on the bike) I was being dazzled by some tw@t's foglights a good few hundred metres behind me. Very distracting and made any unlit cars coming along in the other lane VERY hard to see.

Dipped headlights on cars are OK (and legally required) in poor visibility but in good daylight I'd rather cars were unlit. Bikers use dipped headlights because car drivers have a hard time seeing us, if everyone is lit up during the day then what chance do we have. Same goes for cyclists and pedestrians too.

maidhc

ninja900 wrote:

Dipped headlights on cars are OK (and legally required) in poor visibility but in good daylight I'd rather cars were unlit. Bikers use dipped headlights because car drivers have a hard time seeing us, if everyone is lit up during the day then what chance do we have. Same goes for cyclists and pedestrians too.

Arguments on fog lights aside (for it is a boring argument), I don't see how a car using dipped headlights can make bikers less visible. Actually I nearly had a biker on my bonnet yesterday, a car left me out into traffic and the idiot came flying up between lanes as I was about merge. Anyhow, for another thread, maybe.

Hotblack Desiato

maidhc wrote:

Arguments on fog lights aside (for it is a boring argument), I don't see how a car using dipped headlights can make bikers less visible.

When lots of cars start using lights in daytime, then bikes using lights in daytime will no longer stand out. "Sorry mate I didn't see you" is so common it has an acronym, SMIDSY.

Actually I nearly had a biker on my bonnet yesterday, a car left me out into traffic and the idiot came flying up between lanes as I was about merge. Anyhow, for another thread, maybe.

From the perspective of a car stuck in traffic, a bike doing 15mph looks like it's "flying". In any case you're obliged to yield to all traffic when merging and that includes bikes. If you want to get a biker's perspective on this (and most of us drive cars too) then bring it up in the bikes forum.

ninty9er

WizZard wrote:

Stop shouting.
5 feet of extra visibility to the side (and front) might be quite useful on a dark night on a country road, but not at midday in the 'burbs.
I've had an eye test thank you, and I have pretty much 20/20 vision.
Have you ever heard of reflection? Look it up - it can happen from a wet road when someone has their fog lights on.
Is it just not cool enough to use your dipped headlights to be visible?

With dipped headlights you are more visible to others, so why not use them as opposed to fog lights which are not designed to be used without fog/snow.

I don't have fog lights, I just don't find them dazzling. The Xenons on the run-out Omegas can be a bit distracting though.

Oh and I have 20/20 vision 2

mike65

Baby Jesus cries when someone starts another fog lights thread.

Mike.

ninty9er

mike65 wrote:

Baby Jesus cries when someone starts another fog lights thread.

Mike.

Lock it up Dano.

It's been beaten to death

C_Breeze

This isn't communism. If i want to have my fog lights on because i think it makes me look cool i'll put them on. If the law forbids me then i'll switch them off.

..besides , just because you dont think its cool doesnt mean its not cool to younger glanza driving schmucks.... those are the guys i'm trying to impress not YOU! . thye have a 'tscchh' sound and i have 4 lights , hence i am cool.