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Rear Fog Lights


atce4
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I recently read a letter in a motoring magazine that says having 2 rear working fog lights on a vehicle on UK roads is illegal. This is to avoid any confusion with them being mistaken for brake lights. UK law apparently states that only the offside rear fog light should be on when driving in poor visibility. Checked my Lexus and both come on. Can anyone else confirm this to be the case with their vehicle and if so are we all driving around illegally :question:

Graham

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thats a load of bull****

to put it plainly, if it was the case then both my cars are illegal and all the police cars at work.

I just wished they all turned off automatically like the lexus ones do to save you having to drive behind some idiot who has left them on

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Having read the letter again it refers to EU legislation that says there must only be one rear fog light for the reason I mentioned in my initial post. Unfortunately it doesn't quote any reference details as to where the writer got his information but from your comments so far it seems it is OK for 2 rear fog lights...at least possibly for the time being! :)

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So can anyone point me to the relevent legislation in the UK that allows for 2 rear fogs? I'd like to reply to the letter but would like some back up proof if possible.

Incidentally, in France it seems only one working rear fog light is allowed (not sure how that affects UK drivers driving UK vehicles in that country)

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the fact your Lexus meets the Euro specification and is current to UK and european Conformity stds should be good enough, All cars Sold in Europe since i think 1998 now have to have a Certificate of Conformity, CoC although a UK supplied car will have its Cert held at Lexus GB

i have my CoC in my Draw here in front of me :)

if a car is fited with 2, and there have and are currently many different types......

then Both should work, however if only one is fitted then in the UK it should be on the right, and on the left on mainland european cars, if the car is not fitted with one and one is to be fitted it should be fitted on the relevant side to the country the car is used in.

if you are a shoert term visitor to a country other than the UK, then you are given grace

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thats a load of bull****

to put it plainly, if it was the case then both my cars are illegal and all the police cars at work.

I just wished they all turned off automatically like the lexus ones do to save you having to drive behind some idiot who has left them on

I take it you mean the h/lights when in auto mode as the fogs DONT turn themselves off.

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How does the automatic turn off work?

thats a load of bull****

to put it plainly, if it was the case then both my cars are illegal and all the police cars at work.

I just wished they all turned off automatically like the lexus ones do to save you having to drive behind some idiot who has left them on

I take it you mean the h/lights when in auto mode as the fogs DONT turn themselves off.

When you finish your journey in fog and turn off your headlights and ignition then

the fog lights are automatically turned off also. I.E. They won't come back on when you start your next journey.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Is that the same when you leave the light switch in the auto position. i.e  when the headlights switch themselves on again from auto mode the fog lights stay off.

On the LS 400, yes once you've turned the ignition off - the fog lights don't come back on again until you manually switch them back on.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just to be clear to all readers - there is no EU Directive requiring that drivers have only one rear fog light.

The UK Vehicle Lighting Regulations and the original EC recommendation referred to the fact that there should be at least one rear fog light, and it should always be on the driver's side - i.e. visible in the road.

So anyone taking a UK car to the continent (or vice versa) with only one light, for any length of time, should ensure that the correct side is illuminated (which explains why many cars have a space on both sides even if only a bulb in one).

The Dept. of Transport confirms that does not mean there should only be one, and no such legislation would ever have been retrospective anyway.

So, hammers down.

Kind regards

The European Parliament Office in the UK

EP Office in the UK

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well in the netherlands and portugal this is true! only 1 light is allowed. very logic since 2 light are confusing!

and yes i did live (with a car(s)) in those countries!

all the IS's i saw in holland had 2 fog lights.

but where they both working? i remember the discusion on tv with nelie smit kroes (minister of transport) about this subject years ago... my last car (r25 turbo-d) in the netherlands had only one bulb but place for two. and when i imported this car in portugal they were checking this also.

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yes both were working

well your right. :blush: just had a search on http://wetten.overheid.nl

cars registerd before januari 1st 1995 are under the dutch law and cars after december 31st 1994 are under the 76/756/EEG law. my 'old' renault 25 turbo-d was from 1988...

cars after december 31st 1994; "een of twee mistlichten aan de achterzijde van het voertuig, die voldoen aan het bepaalde in de richtlijnen 76/756/EEG en 77/538/EEG."

"one or two fog lights on the back of the vehicle, they have to comply with the 76/756/EEG and 77/538/EEG laws."

one day we all gone listen to brussels :angry:

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Untill I / We can confirm who this new user is posting info on the already established Legal Adivce Forum ... I'm afraid, I'm not going to authenticate the integrity of the information given.

Regards,

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