Driving At Night With The Fog/spot Lamps On.

[Bung]

They're not fog lights, that is just a easy term for them. They are useful "driving" lights in tight situations as the head lights are too high up (on 4x4 pickups anyway) On the open road it is better to have them off, that way you concentrate farther out where the beam is shining, not so close to the car. They are great in under cover parking lots.

[NoshowJones]

^ To be honest, the few cars on the market here with high-intensity tail lights, the owner/driver probably doesn't even know what they are all about and just another switch to mess with. They are mostly for cars being driven in very poor visibility like snow and really dense fog, neither of which are a weather phenomenon is LOS. The manufacturers or importers need to disable them as they are very annoying and really impair night vision when encountered on a night drive in Thailand.

Maybe the drivers need to use the spotlights to spot all the potholes, and other bad bits of road. There's plenty of them in Thailand.

[diddums]

I have fog and driving lights on my pickup...at the front.

I love giving a thai driver a flash of my driving lights when they are being the usual retards.

[diddums]

it might have as much to do with the alignment of the beams as the added candlepower of the lamps

and it's doubtful drivers using the modified high intensity lights are concerned about glare to others

No, they would not give a rats arse and typical attitude of a thai driver....I would like to take my golf club to them in a carpark.

[fasteddie]

<p>

They are mostly for cars being driven in very poor visibility like snow and really dense fog, neither of which are a weather phenomenon is LOS.

Heavy rain also qualifies which there is no shortage of...Especially on the highway with heavy spray and higher closing speeds..

No, not heavy rain, unless visibility is less than 100m and must be switched off as soon as visibility improves.

Edited January 27, 2013 by fasteddie

[fasteddie]

They are mostly for cars being driven in very poor visibility like snow and really dense fog, neither of which are a weather phenomenon is LOS.

Heavy rain also qualifies which there is no shortage of...Especially on the highway with heavy spray and higher closing speeds..

using rear fogs in rain can be incredibly dangerous.

It dazzles motorists behind, it fragments in the rain creating a kaleidoscope effect, and people are mislead into thinking that a car in frnt has put on its brake lights for an extended period - i.e. hard braking.

In most rainy conditions if you can see the sidelights of others DON"T put on your fogs.

Front fogs - do you actually know if you have fogs or driving lights - they are quite different. I have driving lights on the front of mine - next to useless in fog.

First off, nonsense! That's WHY only ONE rear rain light is on and not both and it's not part of the brake cluster it's always distinctly separate. Secondly my post was referring to front fogs, but if you really know anything you'd know that even most professional race series use rear fogs and most exclusively in rain conditions to allow cars behind to determine depth and closing speed..

I am quite sure I had both rear fogs/rains and front driving lights/fogs but thanks for asking ...

First off, absolute nonsense! There is no such thing as rear rain lights. Rear fog lights must not be used in rain unless visibility is less than 100m and should be switched off immediately visibility improves.

[VocalNeal]

most professional race series use rear fogs and most exclusively in rain conditions to allow cars behind to determine depth and closing speed..

Sadly here is the answer.

If F1 uses flashing or special lights in the rain then so must I, as I think I am an F1 driver. .The manufacturer must want me to do do this otherwise he wouldn't have fitted them to my car.

Q.E.D.

[cooked]

...Swearing about Thai drivers driving with parking lights only (and not 'sidelights' as some people refer to them), I came upon a police car early in the morning when it was raining driving with only his parking lights on, except that only one was working. I can't see any point in discussing things here.

[wilcopops]

I think WS's apparent need to use google as a dictionary on words of more than one syllable gives one a good idea of this poster's intellectual abilities and consequently the strength or rather lack of it in his arguments and comprehension.

[WarpSpeed]

<p>

They are mostly for cars being driven in very poor visibility like snow and really dense fog, neither of which are a weather phenomenon is LOS.

Heavy rain also qualifies which there is no shortage of...Especially on the highway with heavy spray and higher closing speeds..

No, not heavy rain, unless visibility is less than 100m and must be switched off as soon as visibility improves.

Yes heavy rain.. End of....

[anon210]

And some British legal sources do recommend to switch off fog lights when visibility improves:

You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves

https://www.gov.uk/driving-adverse-weather-conditions-226-to-237/fog-234-to-236

226

You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves

https://www.gov.uk/driving-adverse-weather-conditions-226-to-237/overview-226

This being said, I used fog lights when under very heavy rain in Surat Thani province... visibility was really reduced to less than 30 meters. Their usage allowed me to see the markings on the road despite the heavy rain. Of course, I switched them off as soon as the rain abated.

[Lancelot]

One of the down sides to life here- the locals just don't care if they blind you. One of the reasons I don't ride my bike at night, other than very short trips in town.

To be fair, I've noticed expats driving around in SUVs/pickups with their bright lights on. I hate those xeon lights...

Oh how quickly we go native

[metisdead]

Off topic obfuscation posts and replies have been removed. This is about normal day to day driving conditions, not about fog lights and rear rain lights on race cars.

[funcat]

One of the down sides to life here- the locals just don't care if they blind you. One of the reasons I don't ride my bike at night, other than very short trips in town.

To be fair, I've noticed expats driving around in SUVs/pickups with their bright lights on. I hate those xeon lights...

Oh how quickly we go native

...when you have dark tint on your windshield,you need strong lights...

[NanLaew]

They are mostly for cars being driven in very poor visibility like snow and really dense fog, neither of which are a weather phenomenon is LOS.

Heavy rain also qualifies which there is no shortage of...Especially on the highway with heavy spray and higher closing speeds..

Granted that LOS has pretty good downpours and I will also admit that there is seasonal but quite significant fog and smog in some locales.

However, in my experience, The local drivers mostly don't see the value of turning on higher visibility lighting, front and rear when driving in poor visibility situations between dawn and dusk.

I think the OP is talking about the local drivers that annoyingly turn on higher visibility lighting, front and rear, from dusk till dawn, in mostly good and clear driving conditions.

[renrut salohcin]

When I happen to drive behind a car with his rear fog lights on, I use my high beam light and drive at a certain distance...

Hey, he wants to get noticed. Me too.

So you are then blinding oncoming drivers with your high beam. Very considerate. Idiot.

[renrut salohcin]

^ To be honest, the few cars on the market here with high-intensity tail lights, the owner/driver probably doesn't even know what they are all about and just another switch to mess with. They are mostly for cars being driven in very poor visibility like snow and really dense fog, neither of which are a weather phenomenon is LOS. The manufacturers or importers need to disable them as they are very annoying and really impair night vision when encountered on a night drive in Thailand.

They are also intended for use in heavy rain when visibility can be drastically reduced. Very useful in Thailand.

[renrut salohcin]

When I happen to drive behind a car with his rear fog lights on, I use my high beam light and drive at a certain distance...

Hey, he wants to get noticed. Me too.

I have to admit that I have started to do this. The problem is the moron in front has no idea why I am doing this? Except if/when I pass I usually flash my rear fog light but even then......

If you are really doing this then you are also a moron. Really good idea to start a dazzling contest. You are in no position to point out infractions of the law by commiting the exact same offence

[renrut salohcin]

I get the impression that many motorists actually don't know their rear fogs are on. Is it possible that they come on together with the front spots?.

Anyway they certainly don't know what they are for or when they should or shouldn't be used, and in a country virtually devoid of fogs the answer for the majority of motorists would be NEVER!

UNLESS you're driving in torrential rain, a situation in which it is reasonable for them be used, when they can be life-savers

[renrut salohcin]

I'll occasionally use the fog lights when driving slowly around tight sois - plenty of dogs, bikes with no lights, etc, to run into. They give lighting around the sides of the car that you can't get with normal headlights. I've never been bothered by people using fog lights at night. What bothers me is modified high intensity lights that blind oncoming drivers and stupid bright red 'fog' lights on the rear of cars (particularly vios'). What on earth is the purpose of these???

So that you can see them in bad weather conditions.

[Crossy]

The problem with the high-intensity rear lights (particularly in the wet at night) is that they can mask the brake lights.

My car doesn't have the rear lights and the front fogs make little difference to seeing ability apart from as culicine noted close up. I did used to leave them on as any extra light is welcome until the BiB decided that it is now an offence.

By far the worst dazzle offenders are those with incorrectly installed/set after market HID lights which don't dip properly.

[BSJ]

Ok, I will accept there maybe times at night or during inclement weather that using them is OK......but that doesn't excuse the morons that have them on during the day.

[firestar]

One of my pet hates. No reason to have them on night or day in normal conditions.

[WarpSpeed]

One of my pet hates. No reason to have them on night or day in normal conditions.

Agreed..

[2unique]

I got stopped on Thursday night at a checkpoint - naturally cautious I'd turned down the music, put my phone in the center console and had not been drinking - I was fined for having my fog lights on.

I normally turn them off once I leave my dark suburban soi but had forgotten!

As regards rear fogs, I've replaced my central lower reflector (mu7) with an led array and separate switch. Ideal for daytime cloudbursts.