Foglights...

[edible_hat]

This morning there was pretty heavy og around here. I had to drive to work in it. I counterd 27 cars without fog lights, or headlights of any kind switched on. One of these cars I recognised as a car I've seen driving around at night when it isn't foggy with foglights/high beams on blinding other drivers.

I'm thinking somebody installed the fog lights switch backwards so he thinks it's on when it's off and vice-versa. That or he's a tool.

[Javarod]

Chuckles, "Ifn they're on with his high beams, they're definitely miswired. Here, a little run down on light types:

Fog Extra low beams (they're aimed under the fog) and extra wide should be hooked up with low beams
Low Regular headlights
High Extended range headlights
Driving Long range lights, super high beams as it were and extra narrow should be hooked up with high beams
Off Road Varies by brand, these can be any combination of low, high, wide or narrow

How you wire add on lights is rarely regulated, its typically up to how the consumer wants them, but the recommendations up there are considered to be the best way.

[CorDarei]

i know this is a little off-topic, but it pertains to high-beams...

i have a mustang that has the 4 headlights in front... i'm sick of people brighting me assuming just because i have all 4 lights on that they're my brights.... but i pay them back by turning on my high beams (which turns off the inside 2 and makes the outside 2 much brighter).

[tollbaby]

i know this is a little off-topic, but it pertains to high-beams...

i have a mustang that has the 4 headlights in front... i'm sick of people brighting me assuming just because i have all 4 lights on that they're my brights.... but i pay them back by turning on my high beams (which turns off the inside 2 and makes the outside 2 much brighter).

Well, in our defense, the regular lights on a stang can be pretty blinding!

[PepperElf]

I'm visiting with my family right now in a state where it's the law - you have to have your headlights on when it's raining. I think it also includes "reduced visibility" but i'm not sure.

in this city about 1/4 of the drivers can't be bothered to turn on their headlights in the rain. which is pretty stupid because if another driver can't see them and get into an accident, the law - and insurance companies - will tend to side against someone who was breaking a driving safety law.

i think my parents just use them all the time now for a CYA policy

[Chromatix]

In the Nordic countries - and Finland - it is mandatory to use at least running lights (or dipped beams if you don't have those fitted) at *all* times. Including summer daylight.

Of course, high-beams and fog lights should also be used when appropriate - but only then.

[Kaylyn]

That's why I'm always so hesitant to flash drivers. Low beams and fog lights are so much brighter these days. As a migraine sufferer, sometimes extremely bright light at night will trigger one. I drive for 12 hours a night on a narrow country road with no shoulder and no other lights. When someone comes up on me, I only flash when their lights are excessively bright and obviously brights. And then sometimes I've been wrong and I feel like they flash a spotlight back at me.

My truck (18-wheeler) sits higher off the road than your average vehicle, and it's new and has some fairly bright low-beams as well. I've just about got the regular drivers on that road trained to not flash me anymore, but when they do, it blinds me a little and that's not good on that teensy road...

[Chromatix]

I once borrowed a lamp for my bicycle - which took a 25W or 50W overhead-projector bulb. It came in handy when dealing with unlit Welsh roads, as people saw me coming and thought I must be a (very quiet) motorcycle - of course I had to carry a rather large battery for it. But I was careful to adjust it so that it wouldn't blind people.

[Pagan]

i have a mustang that has the 4 headlights in front... i'm sick of people brighting me assuming just because i have all 4 lights on that they're my brights.... but i pay them back by turning on my high beams (which turns off the inside 2 and makes the outside 2 much brighter).

I've done that to cars, not because they've got four lights on, but because they're too damn bright. Not to mention that by "paying them back", you just further blinded the person that flashed you.

[mattm04]

I only run my fog lights when it is you know foggy. I still see tons of people run them all the time, even in the day.

[Arm]

I run my fog lights any time I run my headlights. It gives me better peripheral vision, among other things. Plus, I have a scar on my right eye that only affects my vision when my pupil dilates too much, so the brighter I can keep my surroundings, the less likely I am to get halos and wind up with crappy depth perception because of my right eye getting confused.

That said, I can't STAND people who zip around with their brights on at all times. That is OBNOXIOUS. Especially when they then run up behind me and tailgate me. I know they're back there somewhere because the headlights disappear from my rear view mirror... that also means they're within ten feet or less. Not good! Especially at night when they don't know WHAT I might see ahead of me and have to brake for.