fog lights

[fixerupper]

I have allways been confused by this what is the difference between fog lights, spot lights, and driving lights ... I've never had either but probably been blinded by all of em' .....grrrr....jeff....

 

[MattF]

I have allways been confused by this what is the difference between fog lights, spot lights, and driving lights ... I've never had either but probably been blinded by all of em' .....grrrr....jeff....

The lenses are basically the only difference, in the way they either alter the beam pattern and diffuse the light, or not, as the case may be.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Also: from my youth I always remembered fog lights were amber lensed, apparently caused less 'bounce back' of light or something else scientific I did not understand.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I hate people using fog lights wrongly, also hate those daytime lights regardless of where they are placed, and vehicles with alternating fog lights too.

 

[Shox Dr]

....and while on the subject.

The people that leave them on for days after they were (not) needed.


Merc (sprinters at least) used to be a pull switch in the middle of the main light switch on a cam so they turned off when you turned the mains off. Why is that not mandatory?

 

[CRB]

....and while on the subject.

The people that leave them on for days after they were (not) needed.

......and wonder why you are shouting, tooting, flashing at them........

 

[MattF]

On the flip side of this point, I have on two occasions I recall being guilty of my rear fogs being on when they shouldn't have been. The downside of those toggle switches on the console. Women and their bags get everywhere, including flicking toggle switches. I really ought make a plate to blank it off somewhat from the passenger side.

 

[CRB]

On the flip side of this point, I have on two occasions I recall being guilty of my rear fogs being on when they shouldn't have been. The downside of those toggle switches on the console. Women and their bags get everywhere, including flicking toggle switches. I really ought make a plate to blank it off somewhat from the passenger side.

 

[MattF]

That is so tempting.

 

[dan.taylor.1]

Any car with DRL's should have it so that if the side lights are turned on the DRL's turn off, they will if fitted turn on over a certain percentage of steering lock as a directional lighting aid.

Most cars have twisty switches so when the main lights are turned off the fogs go off too, but some vans etc still have toggle switches so this isn't the case.

And yes, a fog light has the beam pattern down low to get into the thinner fog near the ground, spot lamps are very directional like a torch is, and driving lamps are just flood patterns to light everything up and should usually be wired to come on with the main beam afaik.

As Doubleboost said, they aren't a testable item in so far as they don't have to work (though something is nagging at me that I've seen front fogs inop on a fail sheet when i was working in garages), but if they are broken as in smashed they can fail under sharp edges etc.

Dan

 

[doubleboost]

The manual says this about "head lights"

"headlamps and any optional (additional) dipped beam headlamps."
then goes on about how to test then
No mention is given to front fog lamps

 

[zx9]

....and while on the subject.

The people that leave them on for days after they were (not) needed.


Merc (sprinters at least) used to be a pull switch in the middle of the main light switch on a cam so they turned off when you turned the mains off. Why is that not mandatory?

Tell me about it, the first really foggy day I drove my Vito I could not work out how to turn on the fog lights on. A case of RTFM, I had but it must have been over a year before I felt the need to use them.

 

[Bill Edwards]

I would think that, on average, I probably only turn my fog lights on once a year - and it can sometimes get quite bad on the route to where I work.
Utterly unnecessary when visibility is not less than 100 meters, and if you don't turn them on for no reason then you won't forget to turn them off when it's really not needed.

Idiots who turn them on when they can see that there's a bit of mist half a mile ahead, when it's dark, when it's raining etc should not be on the road. Along with those who don't consider it important to dip the beam for oncoming traffic, check their headlamps remain in alignment and who fit stupid xenon bulbs that are too bright and aren't aimed in the right direction.

 

[CRB]

I would think that, on average, I probably only turn my fog lights on once a year - and it can sometimes get quite bad on the route to where I work.
Utterly unnecessary when visibility is not less than 100 meters, and if you don't turn them on for no reason then you won't forget to turn them off when it's really not needed.

Idiots who turn them on when they can see that there's a bit of mist half a mile ahead, when it's dark, when it's raining etc should not be on the road. Along with those who don't consider it important to dip the beam for oncoming traffic, check their headlamps remain in alignment and who fit stupid xenon bulbs that are too bright and aren't aimed in the right direction.

Do not forget the ones who get an MOT certificate on the Monday, and do not realise they have a bulb out on the Tuesday, and then leave it until the following years' MOT test to get replaced.

 

[voipio]

I would think that, on average, I probably only turn my fog lights on once a year - and it can sometimes get quite bad on the route to where I work.
Utterly unnecessary when visibility is not less than 100 meters, and if you don't turn them on for no reason then you won't forget to turn them off when it's really not needed.

Idiots who turn them on when they can see that there's a bit of mist half a mile ahead, when it's dark, when it's raining etc should not be on the road. Along with those who don't consider it important to dip the beam for oncoming traffic, check their headlamps remain in alignment and who fit stupid xenon bulbs that are too bright and aren't aimed in the right direction.

I agree entirely. Also, LED brake lights which are too bright. I had that with a 14 reg Discovery in front of me this week. When his brake lights went on, I could no longer see the tractor in front of him because of the glare. I'd already slowed down before he braked but I can imagine the situation of being distracted by other events on the road. DRLs are the real distraction, together with the flashing white LEDs that the dustcarts round here have!

Oh, and strobing LED tail lights!!! Full duty cycle for brake lights, ~10% duty cycle for side lights. It seems that the designers don't appreciate the basic idea of persistence of vision, coupled with the saccadic eye movements of an alert driver being dangerous. ( see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccade ).

This isn't possible though, or not at least on the Vauxhall, BMW, Citroen or Volkswagen on my drive.

Front, and rear fogs can only be illuminated when the headlights are too.

On the cars I've driven, the front fogs can be turned on once the side lights are lit. If the front fogs are on (with side lights only) then the rear fog light will come on. If the front fogs are off, the rear fog light will only illuminate when the headlights are on. Makes good sense.

Also: from my youth I always remembered fog lights were amber lensed, apparently caused less 'bounce back' of light or something else scientific I did not understand.

Light scatter is proportional to the inverse fourth root of the wavelength of light so, basically, across the visible light spectrum, light scatter can differ by sixteen-fold i.e. blue light is scattered approximately sixteen times more than red light. This is what makes the bluish light from HID and xenon bulbs so much worse, from a driving point of view.

 

[langy]

I have allways been confused by this what is the difference between fog lights, spot lights, and driving lights ... I've never had either but probably been blinded by all of em' .....grrrr....jeff....

Basically the lens make up, spots are long pencil beams, driving are a larger area pattern and fog are designed to shine in the area under the fog therefore giving illumination

 

[Sidewinder]

Front fogs if, correctly set, should never dazzle or affect the vision of oncoming vehicle drivers.

It, can, be argued that they increase the visibility of the vehicle to forward facing traffic, hence the implementation of DRL's.

I HATE the DRL's on my Transit as it is the dipped beam headlights.

I think I have only used the front or rear fogs on it once or twice in nearly 3 years due to weather.
I admit to having used the front fogs to increase forward visibility on unlit poor roads more than that, however, they are correctly set well below the line of vision of myself and oncoming drivers so, they act as cornering aids, and, illuminate the road sides.

 

[norlander]

I have allways been confused by this what is the difference between fog lights, spot lights, and driving lights ... I've never had either but probably been blinded by all of em' .....grrrr....jeff....

yaller-fog lights is yaller -if theyz aint yaller,theyz aint fog lights izum. Plus 1 on them being a menace-left on they quite seriously P me off as do,
tailgaterz
late main beam dippers
mobile phone use whilst driving (are you the commander of the nuclear response?-no? THEN ITS NOT IMPORTANT-SHADDUP AND LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING!!!!!)
bleeding frog drivers whe have not grasped the point of indicators in roundabouts (but they have only had them for about 20years so they are a bit new fangled like)
frog drivers who belt up to junctions at full chat then look the wrong way-you learnt to drive on the right you muppet-aint ya worked out where the priority is yet?
drivers (frogs again) who do not move over on 3 lane sections when I want to overtake a truck and they is in the lane to me left.
The thing is, most people do not act like an excrement issueing orifice when they are out of the vehicle but morph into a full **** when they are in their steel cage-why is that??

 

[Kayos]

Got to say foglight switch in my 206 daily abused diesel bus is one thing I actually like, twist once (with side or headlights on) and fronts come on, twist again and rears come on and opposite to switch off, however turn the headlights or the ignition off and they switch off until manually turned back on so impossible to leave on by accident

 

[CRB]

yaller-fog lights is yaller -if theyz aint yaller,theyz aint fog lights izum. Plus 1 on them being a menace-left on they quite seriously P me off as do,
tailgaterz
late main beam dippers
mobile phone use whilst driving (are you the commander of the nuclear response?-no? THEN ITS NOT IMPORTANT-SHADDUP AND LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING!!!!!)
bleeding frog drivers whe have not grasped the point of indicators in roundabouts (but they have only had them for about 20years so they are a bit new fangled like)
frog drivers who belt up to junctions at full chat then look the wrong way-you learnt to drive on the right you muppet-aint ya worked out where the priority is yet?
drivers (frogs again) who do not move over on 3 lane sections when I want to overtake a truck and they is in the lane to me left.
The thing is, most people do not act like an excrement issueing orifice when they are out of the vehicle but morph into a full **** when they are in their steel cage-why is that??

Happens here too. I must be driving with all the HoliFrogs