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Fog Lamp irritation: Is it just me??

2K views 23 replies 16 participants last post by  ThunderEagle 
#1 ·
Here in S E Washington there is an irritating fad, and I suspect it is widespread--as the sun starts to go down, everyone (seemingly) that owns a vehicle with fog lamps turns em on, even though it is light, dry, and with no fog anywhere on the horizon. As night falls and it gets darker it becomes more and more irritating to have a wall of light coming from so many drivers. It seems to be a fad very popular with the ethnic SUV drivers, most outfitted with gigantic chrome rims that continue to 'spin' at stops. It serves no purpose other than to blind the oncoming traffic.

Can anyone tell me why people do this? I estimate it is 10-20% of all local traffic that does this. If you flash your brights they are oblivious to your meaning. They never dim their lights or even appear to know what a flash of the brights means.

The only defense seems to be to avert your eyes until the offender has passed--which works okay, but your eyes must frequently be averted, and it is only a band-aid on this problem.

Am I too critical?
 
#2 ·
It's worldwide. I suspect a lot of the lights come on automatically and the owners don't even know that they have them on.
Over here it's actually illegal to have fog lights on at all unless there is fog present but of course it's never enforced it's far easier to fine somebody for being 3 kph (1.8 mph) over the speed limit than it is to charge a person who may be distracting hundreds or even thousands of other road users.
 
G
#3 ·
It's even worse here in Michigan. I think 30 - 40% of cars use them here when they are not needed. Add some drizzle, sleet, ice or snow and the reflection on the road makes it even worse. I often put on my brights so they will be blinded as well.

I guess people think they look cool by showing off their extra lights. Many drivers are too stupid to understand..
 
#4 ·
It seems to be the norm in my part of Ontario as well.. it drives me crazy as half the fog lights are adjusted incorrectly and are blasting in my eyes.

..Tom
 
#6 ·
That suggests that either your fog lights are not fog lights but rather driving lights or are fog lights that are horribly adjusted.

In theory, fog lights should illuminate just a few inches above the road. hey should not be illuminating out in the trees or way up the road. That way the light from the fog above it doesn't scatter back at you and you can see better.

As a side note: if you have a newer car with Bi-Xenon headlights there really isn't much point in the fogs as the Bi-Xenon cutoff is so sharp that it works much like a fog light while on low beam.

..Tom
 
#9 ·
Young doods seem to think it's cool and older luzury car owners don't seem to realize that they are on. Even worse, some of those cars have European inclement weather packages that include a bright red rear fog that is dazzling to following cars on a clear night.

I was overjoyed to learn that Boston police recently ticketed a dood for use of fogs in daylight.

Taking a page from the Germans, perhaps I'll found Nebelscheinwerferbenutzerverein Boston, and create the bumper sticker, "Foglights are for fog."
 
#10 · (Edited)
A lot of new vehicles are available with factory foglights.

They bother me too, I flash my brights for those folks and look to the shoulder to try to maintain some degree of night vision.
 
#11 ·
People driving with fogs on don't irritate me nearly as much as people driving with their high beams on in the fog. It happens a LOT around here too..

I've noticed recently that some auto manufacturers seem to be using the fog lamps as DRLs, as opposed to a reduced brightness low/high beam. In actuality, its a great idea if the fog lights are actually fog lights, and adjusted as they should be (aimed very low).

I've got fog lamps on my Subaru with a very low cutoff and they'd be great in the fog but for the fact that you cannot run them without the low beams on as well, which rather defeats the purpose when the low beams are blinding you with the fog right in front of you.
 
#12 ·
Yeah, this is one of my BIG peeves.

I call them F.O.G. lights = F$ck the Other Guy

They are illegal in a lot of places, but no one cares and LEO's either don't know, or care and it's never enforced. EVERYBODY around where I live does this, since most rural roads are otherwise unlighted. My GMC truck has those bumper lights, they are listed as "fog lights", but they have the wrong type bulbs for fog, and they are not quite driving lights. I never use them, I find them useless for actually seeing anything that the regular headlights don't show me. They don't come on automatically, but they do (or SHOULD) go OFF automatically when the driver selects high-beams. That IS illegal to run high beams AND aux lights. It's just another one of those "Hey if I do this, someone will notice me," things. It is downright dangerous, especially when tailgating a motorcycle, which they all seem to do. But, like most things on cars and trucks, the owners have no clue what they are for, just fire 'em up and GO.
 
G
#13 ·
Fog lights should only be used with your regular headlights turned off. In real fog, the regular headlights will reflect too much of the light. However, it is illegal in the US to only drive with your foglights. Go figure..

And real fog is when you can only see a few car lengths ahead, not when it gets a little damp. Fog lights are designed for slow speeds only.
 
#14 ·
Lemme tell a fog story:

It was the worst fog I ever saw (mid 1960's)--so bad there was NO possible way to see the road surface through the W/S, even on low beams. I was driving a VW Beetle, I tried sensing the edges of the pavement by the sound of the tires, but found I was weaving all over--couldn't see a thing! I didn't feel good about coming to a full stop due to poor visibility, so I finally hit upon a way to proceed--I found I could see the white center stripe of the hiway if I held the driver's door open, looking straight down, and let the interior lamp light up the stripe! I idled along in first gear following that stripe for a couple of miles til I was out of the fog.

A memorable experience!

Did I jack my own thread?
 
#15 ·
My car has factory fogs which I don't think are nearly as bad as most of the blinding aftermarket ones. Personally I like using them at night because it illuminates the road directly in front, and off to the sides a bit better. You bring up a good point though. I'm not sure what they look like from the other side but since they're mounted so low and seem to be pointed at a downward angle I don't think it's that bad. I've also never had anyone "flash" me while using them. So either they aren't that bad, or they're so bad the person is disoriented to the point of not being able to find their high beams. ;)

I'll have to pay attention next time I meet a similar car to see how bad they are.
 
#16 ·
I don't believe that manufacturers are allowed to have the foglights be the DRL. It's just a new thing that everyone does. I started seeing it first when the newest generation of Mustang GT came out. Those really are the worst since they are large and way too high to be used as fog lights. The people that drive them have them on all the time to make sure everyone knows they have a GT. Then they get pissed when people flash their high beams at them.
 
#17 ·
Funny, I was going to post in this thread because my car has factory fog lights and in fact is an '05 Mustang GT! And, I make a point to NEVER turn the fog lights on!

And I agree that MOST (but not all) of the people driving that breed of car are indeed violators for the exact reason you state - "Hey look at me, I have the V8 model". However there are a few exceptions and I am one of them since I don't need to advertise anything. Matter of fact I recall a couple of heated threads on the Mustang forums back when the car came out, about driving around at night with the fog lamps on. Indeed, the bigger percentage of reasons stated was either cool factor or the "safety factor of extra visibility". The rest of us who keep the things turned OFF were of course, the weenies of the group... ;)

All that being said, the claim that it increases visibility to others has a familiar sound to anyone who's read a headlight modulator thread... not saying the cagers need the same protection we do though.
 
#19 ·
In the vast majority of cases, what the OEM's like to call 'fog' lights actually fall under the definition of 'Auxiliary driving lights' under the FMVSS. As either, the vast majority of them are useless. The stock 'fog' lamps on any vehicle I've ever owned were useless for lighting up anything more than 15 feet in front of the truck... In any case, FMVSS's state that they're legal to use with the headlights, but it's not legal to have more than four driving lights illuminating the front of a vehicle, which is why they have to turn off when the high beams come on (that would make six lamps illuminating).

I unstalled a set of PIAA Fog lights in the airdam of my truck. They're a true fog light, shining a low and flat pattern underneath the fog. They have been quite useful during heavy fog and even in some snowstorms where the headlights reflect too much back into my face. I also have a set of 150-watt KC Daylighters I use as auxiliary driving lights, HID's are the primary headlamp, and they contain a 55-watt H-3 Halogen high-beam. With all four sets burning a hole in the night, I'm not legal in any of the 50 states, Canada, Mexico, or Puerto Rico, but I sure as hell can light up those country 2-lanes like a freight train!!

The HID heads have a nice sharp beam cut-off, the high beams fill in the gaps a little farther out, the fogs do a great job of lighting up low and off to the sides, and the Daylighters... well, they don't call 'em daylighters for nuthin'!
 
#22 ·
I have yet to see a factory fog/aux light that was blinding, and I ride about 90% at night (get up at 3PM, go to sleep around 6AM). :confused:

I don't see the big deal. So something like this actually bothers people?
Some vehicles don't have the lights that low, such as the Mustang GT. Then there are people who install aftermarket ones and aim them too high.
 
#24 ·
I really can only speak for my truck. F150 SuperCrew. The 2nd set of lights on that I view as driving lights, not fog lamps. As for where they shine, they really just fill in underneath my normal low beams.

Who knows maybe my low beams are adjusted out too far. I actually don't care too much for my high beams as I feel they go out way too far and I don't get a good view of the road in front of me.

Some of this might be a function of what stock heights of 4x4's are anymore. I know when I first got it I used to get a lot of lights flashed at me with my low beams on, driving lights or not, any more I find myself getting blinded by the low beams of those super bright xenon lights on cars.
 
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