30 Pound Fine For Front Fogs 15 Mins Ago What A Joke

[TomCooper]

awww im sorry mate, im just saying whats the harm in having them on when no other cars are about, ie dark country lanes, it does help, and yes i do rag it down country lanes, (also shows up the bumps gonna go over, and surface water... i use them alot because i find they help me. Ive had cars on country lanes oncomming leaving there full beam on which completely blinds anyone coming the other way, lower fogs dont dazzle in the same way. but can help light up the road you know.

and even though they show up 1-2ms either side of the car and at high speeds wont make a huge differnce, but at lower speeds around town they help, a while back i avoided a cat cos i see it run beneath a car out in front of me, it gave me that extra split second to hit the breaks... and with the lexus breaks this makes a huge difference.

personally i think they should be allowed in certain conditions, ie fog, or dark country lanes, unlit streets. and yes they look cool ;)

[Fargo]

@tomcooper off topic but i see youve now got my old car reg now.

[TomCooper]

aido???

[DJ Wozza]

i stand alone then :P

Don't take any notice mate, the same person put lights on his intercooler

It's always the people who haven't seen them in the flesh :o plus the last time they were on was at the last TBDev Meet

(and that was in a car park)

Anyway nothing against the law about my intercooler lights, and no matter the road conditions..... they don't dazzle anyone :D

unlike Fog lights in the rain, or just after raining.

[chrisis200]

i stand alone then :P

Don't take any notice mate, the same person put lights on his intercooler

It's always the people who haven't seen them in the flesh :o plus the last time they were on was at the last TBDev Meet

(and that was in a car park)

Anyway nothing against the law about my intercooler lights, and no matter the road conditions..... they don't dazzle anyone :D

unlike Fog lights in the rain, or just after raining.

I like your lights really :P & back to this topic as long as we all know if the fogs are used in the wrong conditons you can be pulled, which is the only reason I do not do it. I dont have money to waste on fines hehe..

[TomCooper]

wozza... what are these intercooler lights? i haven't seen them

[aido]

@tomcooper off topic but i see youve now got my old car reg now.

It's certainly doing the rounds is that one mate :D

Tom bought it when he took my IS, it's been in LOC now some years!

[WylieCoyote]

There's a clue in the name - FOG lights. Sorry, little sympathy here - they dazzle other drivers and there's no need for them to be on. It looks ridiculous and is dangerous. Just keep them off in future.

PS if you'd have read your highway code you should realise they are not permitted for use unless visibility is poor due to fog. Ignorance is no excuse.

[Rich OB]

I don't think fog lights dazzle at all. As for putting a sidelight bulb in the fogs as TomCooper said, that wouldn't be illegal, well if it is then all new spec Ford Galaxy's are illegal, they have the sidelights in the foglight at the bottom of the bumper, when the dipped headlights are on it can look like a foglight.

I know what all the guys are saying about it lighting up the side of the road, and in fog you're actually meant to use sidelights and fog lights anyway as a too bright a light just makes the fog more dense.

The bottom line is it is illegal to use foglights in good visibility and if you do you could be facing a £30 fine! Modern lights such as Xenons are more than bright enough to light up the road ahead of you. I would say most people who use front fogs just think it looks good, and people that use rear fogs are just plain dumb!

[Andy-R]

I was told a while back by a traffic officer that when driving in dull conditions when it's grey and miserable that you should make yourself as visible as possible, didn't ask about fog lights but they would make other drivers more aware of where you are, I agree that when people have them on all the time because they thinks it's cool then that's wrong, but using them in certain situations like down dark back roads is ok IMHO as long as you turn em off when another car approaches.

[aido]

I have my HIDs on permanently - it was a tip Zee gave me many moons ago. Basically some survey was done that showed that people were much more likely to see you from a short glance when you have lights on than if you didn't - and yes this is in the day time. Hence the Volvo daytime running lights etc.

I'm all for anything that decreases my risk of an accident so on they went, and stayed on ever since!

Have to admit it really does seem to help in terms of other people seeing me coming - nowhere near as many people just pull out any more - I try and read the roads as much as possible now anyway and good job as if I didn't I'd have taken out so many people who just pull out at roundabouts in front of you it's untrue! All Lexus and BMW drivers too.

One thing I noticed is that some people just seem to assume that I have my rear fogs on as the inner lights are lit as well as the outside as per the JDM conversions (this car is JDM so came this way I believe) - and that sometimes results in them flashing me from behind or turning their fog lights on and off - it's always quite interesting to see the look on their face in the mirror when I flick the fog lights on and off to show them they're not actually on as there is a big difference!

[alpine]

Some people here seem to be confusing driving lights with daylight running lights. The 20GTi I had back in 1984 had 2 driving lamps, positioned below the front bumper on the corners of the car. These were production and were called DRIVING lamps by Peugeot, intended as a supplement to the main beam headlamps. A driving lamp has a clear lens, with the beam not having a sharp top cutoff. A FOG lamp should have a diffused lens, a very wide flat beam and a reflector with a sharp horizontal cutoff. The idea is to reduce back glare from the fog. I don't remember what was fitted to the IS but I think they were clear lenses. I don't recall ever using them, so I'm not sure of the beam shape.

[Rich OB]

Second all what aido says, if you drive with dipped beam on in all conditions you will definately notice less drivers pull out in front of you as you're seen and more visible even in bright daylight. Especially when people are at junctions having quick glances a car will catch your eye if it has lights on! Try it next time you drive!

I also drive with lights on most of the time and you will soon see most new cars doing the same, the driver will have no option as Daytime Running Lights become the norm.