I have had near misses with dorks only running fogs thinking they can see so damn good they can run up the middle of the road.
They have no clue they are out driving the safety factor on their lights.
And i personally find it easier on the eyes from glare when the fogs come on beside the low beams 'in heavy fog'.
Mike
Not me. I leave the head lamps on and slow down.
Correct or not, it's the law. We all know what we do when confronted with the law, but when asked in a public forum, what I do and what I say are not necessarily the same thing. What I say is what I think the law says.
Properly adjusted fog lamps will reduce, if not completely eliminate, glare from the low beams. If fog lamps worked better as a stand-alone lighting source, then they would not be REQUIRED to be used in conjunction with the low beams.
There is absolutely no logic in your assertion that fog lamps work best when used alone.
As for using fog lamps in clear weather, have you thought that poeple think they look cool, and don't give it a second thought that they can even see at all? Most drivers are morons that would prefer to paint their nails or watch TV while driving, do you think they give looking outside any more than a passing thought? No, they don't care if they can see, they only care that they LOOK good. Sheesh, Fred, I thought you knew that!
That's not the law in Ohio.
Tom
snip>
Hi Bill:
That California law is referring to "running lights." The question is, what are "running lights?"
If they are parking lights, then yes you are correct. It is illegal in most states that I know of to drive at night with JUST parking lights on and without headlights.
In Ohio, there is no law that I am aware of that says you cannot drive with fogs and parking lights on in heavy fog.
Tom
I think we will have to agree to disagee on this. I still do not see how the light reflected from the headlight would be reduced in the least by turning on another light source. The percentage of total broadcast light would be less, but that is not what our eyes respond to. They are only responsive to the absolute amount of light. WRT headlights being required by law, I believe that this is just one of many instances where the motoring laws in the US are antiquated or based on non-sense. Just like the piss-poor regulations on what constitutes a legal (DOT) head light beam.
Let me try one more time. We agree that the light from the foglight will not be reflected back into the eyes of the driver. Therefore the only light the eye receives would be reflected from the objects the driver needs to see. The iris of eye will adjust to the lower amplitude of light and allow decent enough vision for very slow driving. OTOH, when headlights are used simultaneously, even though the fogs still do the same job of illuminating the road in front of the car, the reflected light from the headlights will cause the iris to close down making the eye less sensitive to the stuff you want to see. It is a signal to noise issue where the reflected light is the noise.
Yeah, I did (do). I was just giving them the (undeserved) benefit of the doubt. ;-)
-Fred W
Depends on what the definition of "is" is. What is a headlight? Does a foglight or driving light qualify as a headlight? In many states it does.
Yup, that is how it 'seems' to work for me too...
Mike
"L.W.(ßill) Hughes III" wrote:
Let's see what it says where I live:
Perhaps I should have written: "In *some* states it does."
-Fred W
Huh? I'm not sure what you are trying to say here about the pupils (agreeing or disagreeing). And yes, the Jeep manual does show the proper way to align a fog light.
Most of the negatives of fog light use are due one of a few things:
#1) Improperly aligned or installed lights. They should be under the bumper, not over. They should tip slightly down (as the TJ manual shows).
#2) Their use during other than foggy conditions, which should be made illegal IMO. Even then, if foglights are properly installed and adjusted, it is not much of a problem that some yahoo thinks he looks good with them burning all the time because they are very low and are unlikely to cause glare..
#3) People driving too fast when they really do need them on. When you have fog lights on, it is presumably to see the road below the thick fog. When it is that thick you should not be traveling any faster than about 25 mph. Of course that means you risk being rear ended by some idiot with his headlights on that can't see your rear running lamps (most cars don't have rear fog lamps in the US) because he is blinded by his own headlights refraction.
Which is why people should be ticketed for exceeding "proper and reasonable" speed in reduced visability situations. When was the last time you heard of that one being enforced?
Personally, I think that states should raise (or eliminate) the clear weather daytime highway speed limits altogether, and actually enforce the night time limit (no 10-15 mph grace zone as there is now) and then even further reduce/enforce the bad weather limits.
But I don't expect too many others will agree with me...
-Fred W
Gee Fred, how do you REALLY feel? ;-)
I actually think that on American interstates where the lighting is good and the visibility is generally very far - that is, the view to the horizon - then we sould not even get so pissy about speeding at night. There is a huge problem with speeding in poor weather, but sometimes it is best to overlook the dangesr os weather in favor of looking at the dangers posed by our fellow drivers. It's a, "look out for the crazies because they are sure as lell not looking out for you," kind of thing. It is sad, but doing 80 in the rain might be the safest thing to do.
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