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front fog lights
- Thread starter neil
- Start date
People with performance cars seldom seem to use them - they know what theyre for.
People with 1.1 special edition Saxos, 1.9 Z3s and the like use them all the time as theyve obviously only just "graduated" to a higher spec car and feel the need to show off. Its a bit silly really as it blinds other drivers.
I flash my fogs at people who have them on when it isnt foggy.
S
silou
they are show offs . no need if it isnt foggy or very dark
(like country roads).
Clio 1.6 16V
Just had a look at the highway code online @
http://www.roads.dft.gov.uk/roadsafety/hc/index.shtmlhttp://www.roads.dft.gov.uk/roadsafety/hc/index.shtml
It suggests the following:-
"You MUST NOT
use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users
use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users.
Law RVLR reg 27 "
Personally I think front fog lights look pretty cool on a car ...but only if they are never used! Never seen the point of them. They only light up about 3 feet in front of your bonnet anyway which is next to useless! Pain in the ass if people use them in the wet due to reflections from the road. Incidently, I read an auto article the other day. Reserchers are trying to develop headlights with polarised lenses, producing horizontaly polarised light that doesnt reflect against the fog......could eventually be their demise. Lets hope that they are fitted to BMWs first!!
I have been caught with them on by an over zealous motorcycle copper.
Had been driving over the coast road from Brighton to Eastbourne - and it was pretty foggy so put my fog lights on but when I entered Eastbourne it wasnt foggy any more but I neglected to turn them off.
Got stopped and was presented with a £20 fixed penalty.
So the moral of this story is dont drive around with your fogs on if its not foggy.
Helen
This was in the Sunday Times driving section this weekend. It is illegal except in fog or snow, but ive never heard of anyone getting stopped/fined for it!
Its mailto:f@#king">f@#king annoying, but not as annoying as those blue xenon things, Just got blinded for 20 miles by a guy behind me. As he passed on a roundabout, it was a Land Rover, double t**ser!
Haha, not this again!! Some of the older members of the forum might remember a few months ago this turned into one of those 150-post epics with much heated discourse, sl*gging other forum members and general over-reacting going on!!
Anyway, heres my view:
I personally see no harm in driving with your front driving lights on, the standard ones on Renaults are no brighter than normal headlights, so I dont believe they can blind other drivers. They do actually help improve visibility and it can look quite good at night, especially if youve got them low down on a deep bumper (like 98- Clio for example!) As for real fog lights, ie. the big fcuk-off halogen aftermarket ones you get for rally use, favourites of the RS/Scooby mob, well thats a different matter. Theyre obviously more likely to dazzle people. But generally, I have no problem with front fogs, although Im not saying that I personally use them, cos I dont - unless its foggy.
But I have a different view about the rear fog light brigade. This type of persons obviously just some absolute drooling moron who doesnt know how to operate the light stalk on the car theyve probably had for months!! How can they not know when theres a big warning light on the dash??? Or do they actually think it looks cool to have a bright red light at one side of the rear of their car???
Ford Fiesta
yeah I dont drive with front ones on unless needed but they dont cause me problems if others are using them. Its been foggy lately so been using em, but surely are they to be used with sidelights and not normal dipped beam? This way you dont get the glare back with headlights refecting back off the fog/snow? most people drive with fogs AND dipped on, whats the point? You dont use fogs to be seen, normal lights will do this quite perfectly on their own.
Clio 1.6 16V
Sorry theICEman but front "driving" lights in my book = FOG LIGHTS, ONLY TO BE USED IN FOGGY CONDITIONS!!!!
However, agree with your rear FOG light theory. Probably the front fog lights dont annoy you cause you dont see yours from your drivers seat.....but other peoples rear ones do.....hhhmmmm. Sorry Cliosport members, this is a pet hate of mine..... I will now retract from my soapbox.
Well true, I wouldnt see mine from my drivers seat, but then, as I said already I dont use them so thats irrelevant! But Im as likely to see the front fogs of other people coming towards me as the rears of cars in front (if not more likely, dont tend to spend much time behind any other cars!!). And, as I said, it doesnt bother me. And I stand by my distinction between harmless low-intensity "driving lamp" type fogs and full-on halogen beasts, since there is actually a difference. Switch on your cars fogs and your normal headlights and get out and go round the front of the car and look at them. The fogs are exactly the same brightness as your headlights. Whats to dazzle people about that?? If you uprate em, well then thats different. But Renault know there arent many Clio buyers taking their cars out on rally. So they put in normal bulbs, call them "driving lights" and thats that. Above all else, theyre there for aesthetic reasons, so can you blame people for using them?
Feking coppers round here! £30 for driving in the Fog WITH my lights on, no, sorry, must e-iterate this point.
Fog at point A, driving to point B 2 miles away, where it is also foggy, in-between points A & B there was a 400yrd clear section. I had both front and rear fogs on (so not just using them for show!) and got a £30 fine!!!
I hate coppers when they are in "one of those moods". In his words I can see fine, cant you? Smarmy get!!
DONT USE FOGS UNLESS ITS FOGGY, THEY LOOK STUNNING BUT LETS FACE IT, WE AINT ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING TO MAKE OUT CARS LOOK GOOD.(Without PC PLod getting the hump!)
Rant over, goodbye!
PS also took one to court for the driving lamps on my old MR2, dealer stated driving lamps, Toyota confirmed - they are driving lamps (follow me home ones as fitted to imports) Police and court said tuff, fine stands! I hate it when common sense doesnt even prevail!
Things may have changed, but I always thought the difference between front driving lamps and fog lamps was the shape of the beam, not the power of the bulb.
Fog lamps have a wide, flat beam, designed to light up the road and the verge without bouncing back into your eyes as per main beam. Driving lamps are supposed to be used in conjunction with main beam to increase the general illumination of the road ahead.
At least, thats the way it was in the good old days (college, living in the middle of nowhere where you needed all the light you could get, an Avenger covered in lights - happy days
).I used t drive around with my fogs on, suppose i thought it looked cool! But i was young and imature and wanted to do anything to make people notice me but now i realize how sad it is.
I once drove past a copper at about 35/40mph in a 30 zone, he followed me pulled me over... i shat myself and he said its just your fog lights mate, its an offence to have them on unless its foggy so turn them off. that was it! I was well relieved! (and surprised!)
Why attract more attention from the b******s than we already get?!
Tom
ClioSport Club Member
EV (s)
last month i had a "chat" withe the local plod about this (he had pulled me over) he tried to issue me with a fine for having them on (despite it being foggy) when i mentioned to him about it being foggy and pointing to the various fog areas. He then gave me a producer and told me to "not be so cocky" i have issued a complaint about this idiot.
and i recived 3 phone calls and a letter apologising on the behalf of this guy
should i keep going? or just accept the letter.
Im surprised you even got that, in fact im amazed!
My mate was pulled out of a his car and agresively interogated and threatened by a police sergeant who had driven past and claimed he heard my mate shout t**ser at him, which was bollox.
My mate complained twice about the sergeant, the police he spoke to were very apolagetic and said he was out of ordrer but hes heard nothing since.
Nothing to do with foglights though.
Mine definately arent fog lights. I wouldnt even describe them as driving lamps either, you could look directly into them from about two inches away and you wouldnt even blink. Theyre purely cosmetic, they might fill a little bit of the road directly below the bumper but thats it.
For the moment i think they look quite cool, but i hardly ever drive at night and at some point ill probably rip them out for air ducting.
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