The dumbest question

Not dumb at all; lots of things to discover about these cars.

Try pulling the headlamp switch straight out one notch; pulling out to the second notch activates both the front foglamps and the single rear foglamp (brighter red rear). You probably will notice an orange indicator lamp on the light switch when rear fog lamp is activated. Foglamps can be used with parking lamps by simply pulling out the switch knob to the first notch. Note that front foglamps are temporarily disabled when high-beams are used; I'm not sure if it's a safety issue of being too bright, or if it's to protect the electrical circuits, but the foglamps come on with park lamps or normal headlamps. They automatically switch off when the headlamp switch is turned back to 12 o'clock Off position.

Thanks...I'm glad I asked when I did because the fog was horrible tonight. When driving in fog, you turn off the headlights and leave the fogs on for maximum effectiveness, correct?

I use fog lamps only with regular headlights, never the parking lights. While it may well help cut glare to use only fog lamps without headlights, it's also important that you be seen by other drivers. The single rear foglamp is there supposedly to help other drivers see your presence.

My owner's manual says: "Fog lamps will operate with the parking lamps and/or the low beam headlamps on. Fog lamps should only be used in conjunction with low beam headlamps. Consult your State or Province Motor Vehicle Regulations regarding allowable lamp operation."

"Newsgroup Reader" hat in Betrag news:jkgJb.876$ snipped-for-privacy@news.uswest.net dies gedichtet:

Rules for the proper usage for Front and Rear foglights vary from country to country. In Germany for example a rear foglight is mandatory for all new cars (my BMW has two of them as a factory equipment), while front foglights are optional. In Germany the rear foglight may only be used in foggy weather with a visibility of less than 150 ft (50 meter). When using the rear foglight you must not drive faster than 50 kph (30 mph). Unfortunately many drivers do not obey these rules and drive around the autobahn with their rear foglights on (which is quite disturbing for others). Front foglights may be used generally in bad weather with limited visibility. Front fogs together with park lamps make sense during extreme fog, when the fog lights are mounted below the bumper. In that case the low beam headlights could dazzle you. If you have an older Mercedes with fog lights and headlights mounted in the same height, this does not matter at all. Although it does not make sense to me at all, many stupid young drivers think it is cool to cruise with fogs on together with parking lights at normal weather. In Germany this may bring you a close encounter of the third kind with the guys in the police cars.

Frank

--snippage--

A ticket (e knoellsche) sounds like a good idea to me. Here (in rarely foggy western Canada), we are blessed not only with the kids in tuner cars using the fog lights in non-foggy conditions, but with 'tough guy' pick-up drivers (disproportionately often in Dodges), and soccer moms in SUVs with all lights a-blazing. More and more vehicles come with fog lights as cosmetic, high profit, standard equipment but very few people seem to know what they are used for, and more importantly what they are _not_ used for. An educational fine or two might put a dent in the abuse.

Spleen-ventingly John M. '94 E320 with rarely used fog lights.

I started to switch my foglights on lately if the oncoming vehicle has them switched on also.

Helar