FULL BEAM and FOG LIGHTS

General Discussion Forums Life, The Universe and (almost) Everything!
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I should apologise for this, but anyway, here goes. FULL BEAM, FOG lights, why are so many drivers using these lights incorrectly? I drive for a living (over 3 million miles now) and years ago, if someone forgot to turn full beam off, a quick flash to remind them and they immediately turned it off. Very few people used fog lights, unless it was very poor visabillity. Now it quite common for drivers to leave full beam on (intentially) or only dip them after continuous flashing from other drivers. Fog lights  seems like every other driver has them on and rear fogs when it’s raining in the dark, (wtaa) or in mist with visibility well over a 100m. Then you get those that drive on full beam and fog lights.

Not only is it any offence to drive with fog lights on when visibility is above 100m, dazzling other road user with full beam is too, so these new full beam assist lights that only dip when it’s too late (brow of hills, clear line of sight corners where the oncoming car can be seen, long before the full beam is dipped etc and then, also it’s only dipped after about a second of full led/xenon blindness). Last year, I sat in a traffic jam on the M40, 4 lanes of very slow and stationary traffic, in the dark, good visibility, and every other car, had rear fog lights on, as well as rear brake lights 

In a truck, it’s even worse, because you not only are looking way ahead, round corners etc, (we all should be doing that anyway) but, because your so much higher, you see over hedges, concrete central reservation, brow of hills etc and when it’s raining in the dark, a lot more glare from full beam and fog lights reflecting in the mirror like dark wet road surface. last night after a 405 mile journey, I counted 47 cars (yes, it gets boring driving on the motorways, so you have to entertain yourself), who were driving with full beam (and didnt dip them). About a dozen also had front fog lights on as well and probably the same had rear fogs on (it was raining, but good visibility).

ofcourse, the new problem, is the adaptive full beam (volvos, Range Rover and mercs seem to be the worst) the drivers are told, that they can leave full beam on and the led headlights will adjust according to what’s in front, thereby not dazzling other road users, well they don’t! Anyone is welcome to sit in my truck whilst someone with these lights is either coming towards or from behind (4 very large rear view mirrors to be blind by) and will understand what I’m having a rant about, they are apita, or should that be eyes. Yes, there great for the driver, he or she can see for miles, but there not for anyone else.

 

All these modern feature are great, but there not perfect and drivers need to understand that and use them accordingly (full beam assist is for lazy people) if you see light ahead, even if you cannot see the headlights, you dip your full beam, because you know another vehicle is about to appear, and its too late to dip them once the lights are visible, you’ve already dazzled that driver. You also dip them early so your eyes can adapt to a lower light level. Fog lights, they do very little illumination of the front of a vehicle, but cause a lot of glare and rear fog lights, the switch in the car should have a very bright red light, to remind drivers it’s on, then they might only use it when really necessary and switch it off when not needed. Now I know your average mx5 driver is probably a much better driver, as their more interested in driving well, improving their skills and enjoy driving, but how far dose the average driver look ahead and actually think about what there doing, it would appear that some, about one car length, if that.

I’ll get down off my soap box now, sorry for the rant.

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Well said

You took every single word out of my mouth

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Fully agree with all of this! Had a rather difficult night drive back to Sheffield from Cornwall recently - the M5 seemed to be full of German 4x4s with extremely bright LED / Xenon lights many of which seemed to be on main beam - & I could actually feel pain in my retinas as they followed me.

On the topic of mis-use of fog lights, it’s interesting to see the number of cars running around with only one front fog light working - obviously they’ve been on for so many miles that one of the bulbs has burnt out!

Also the folk who don’t know what their handbrakes are for & sit at the lights with their foot on the brake pedal, dazzling the driver behind - see lots of vehicles with only the centre (LED) brake light working - both bulbs burned out due to this sort of practice…

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To add…cornering fogs, I just don’t get them. Well I do they are fitted to my other car, I don’t find them any use at all.

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They have not built a good car since the Jowet Javlin!!!

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Unfortunately the auto main beam option is another of those driver aids that just caters to those who drive amongst us without an ounce of common sense…cornering fogs I sort of get, now that I have become used to them…freaked me out a bit at first…

I do think that some people like “the look” of front fogs on for general use, similar to DRL’s, and I personally don’t have that much of an issue with that per say, but I do think that most of them don’t realise that their front & rear fogs are both operated from the same switch (unnecessary use of rear fogs really gets my back up!).

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I can only agree with all that has been said above, the trouble is, the Police don’t even enforce the law! The Highway Code should be a compulsory read for these people.   

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You MUST NOT:
  • use any lights in a way that would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders
  • use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced
  • you MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users (see Rule 226)
In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights.  This will minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again.

Law RVLR reg 30

 

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Spot on…trouble is, how many of the millions of road users/drivers in the UK actually remember that ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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well the auto adjusting headlights in my BMW do work and don’t dazzle - in fact they create a box of darkness around the cars in front (you are welcome to come out for a drive with me to see how they work)… what I hate is lorry drivers who flash you the moment they pop over the brow of the hill (errr I still need to see until I get tot he top thanks) and lorries that constantly dazzle the rear view mirrors on my MX5 … 

 

 

its a two way street every one pisses everyone off… get used to it.

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I agree with every word in the first post, I find the worst offenders are taxi drivers in the Bury area. ( But the Black cabs NOT included,) one headlight on with fog lights, Mot ? has the law changed, the answer is NO. but no Police around, no tax mot or insurance after new  tax change, sell private then there is no record, sold the car to Mickey Mouse address unknown.

 

 

 

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I have a Bmw with adaptive lights, I know exactly how they work, you may not think they dazzle other road users, but these lights do cause glare, they aren’t anywhere near as bad as the Volvo and Merc ones, but, the headlight beam doesn’t have to be pointing at another vehicle to cause glare, (front fog lights are aimed low and to the side, but the still cause glare and dazzle other drivers). It’s easy for you to say your lights don’t cause dazzling, your not the driver in front of your car, your the one benefitting from your headlights.

 

the reason truck drivers flash you as they come over the brow of a hill, is because they sit about 8 - 10ft higher than car drivers and can see your full beam quite a while before you can see their headlights, they want you to dip your headlights because your dazzling them… Can you not understand, if someone flashes you, it’s because there’s a reason…  If you can’t see where your going, slow down, because it’s not a reason to leave full beam on, just so you can see, whilst dazzling other road users.

 

just because car makers fit technology to cars, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea, or necessarily legal (Facebook, texting etc, etc) drivers still need to use common sense and be considerate to other road users (as the Highway Code states and that includes cyclist, horse riders, pedestrians, motorcyclist etc, etc)

 

if you’d like to book a course with a class one police driver, (we all should continually strive to improve our driving) he will kindly point out what a good driver should be doing and demonstrate the art of driving to a VERY high standard looks like. If everyone try’s to drive to there best ability all the time and show consideration towards other road users, life would be so much better for everyone.

 

I doesn’t cost anything to be nice 

 

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Jesus, don’t you get it?  If someone flashes you, there’s almost certainly a reason and in your instance, because you were dazzling them. Truck drivers sit much higher than car drivers, so just because you can’t see their lights, doesn’t mean they haven’t been blinded by your headlight, as they see you well before you see them. 

 

As for your comment on being dazzled by truck headlights, when they are behind you in your MX5, your sat in a very low sports car, where as trucks are higher off the ground and so are their headlights, so I’m afraid this can’t change. However, driving with full beam can be dealt with, you just need to react before you dazzle the other traffic.  Simple. 

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As a truck driver who spends most of my time driving through the hours of darkness, I would like to add my agreement to the sentiments expressed regarding the misuse of vehicle lighting. The various lights on a vehicle are there for a specific purpose, please use them for the purpose they were intended. 

 

I also believe people should have compulsory eye examinations for driving on a regular basis. Or is that another can of worms

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so just the reaction I expected by my deliberately provocative post.

So to deal in order -

I have been followed by my own car and driven towards others with the same feature and not noticed it dazzling me in the MX5 or other cars…

So its okay for lorries to be annoyed because they sit higher but when in the MX5 I just have to suck it up as something that cannot change.

Plus if every time I was flashed in a car it was because I was dazzling someone I would have to turn the lights off as many drivers flash because they don;t realise just because their cars have weak halogen lights that white xenon lights aren’t on full beam…

oh and if you don’t accept the last point just trawl any car forum for loads of older drivers moaning about LED DRLs or LED headlights or xenons…

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It may have escaped your notice that your posting on an MX5 forum. We all drive 5’s and experience the issues you expressed in your opening post. Apart from the obvious truck and van lights I find modern 4x4’s a particular personal issue when driving in the 5. People addicted to using overly bright xenons, fog and day running lights for their trip down the shops, then it’s feasible they may require their eyes tested. 

Not mentioned folks who run with lights out.

By the way I have 6x6 vision and undergo a full medical every twelve months to keep my licence. Perk of the job. Have fun.

 

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I preferred the Jupiter  myself  Cool

Gales.

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[quote=Gales;582444

I preferred the Jupiter  myself  Cool

Gales.

[/quote]
 

That was one great looking car!

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Hi Guys, this is one of those debates along the lines of is it green or is it blue, no it’s turquoise!!

What I’m saying is it’s the commonsense approach that is always dismissed. I personally like the extra visibility afforded by front and rear (fog) lights. That said I always turn the rear one off as soon as I can make out the silhouette of the following vehicle in my mirror to avoid dazzle. I find high intensity rear lights a good option on a rainy motorway but not in a crowd of other vehicles, only if there is a gap behind the rearmost vehicle, not six cars in a row with their lights on.

As far as the front lights are concerned the above follows, but the other use I find helpful is dark country roads to help highlight the road edge. Also remember that correctly set front auxiliary lights should be approx 30’ to the top of the beam to shine under the fog and prevent the light reflecting back.

So turn them off when not needed, I have no excuse as both front and rear auxiliary lights on my Astra have warning lights.

Well, rant over except to ask how do push bikes get away with some of the brightest, blinding lights on the front recently that quite frankly are neither set or adjusted other than to point straight at the oncoming lower (usually) driver.

ps All the very best to you all…