Fog Lights

[Guest raoulc]

I do most of my driving in the country. On previous cars I found driving with low beams makes me more visible and safer. I see vehicles coming towards me better when they have their lights on.

I also notice people with fog lights using them for normal driving and now I do the same. Not only does it look classier (of course) but it is a lesser light and as visible and no danger of accidentally leaving the high beams on.

This is illegal in NSW from what I believe. Not sure about other states. I ignore this law and use it anyway and worry about what happens if I get booked. It is a bad law and should be repealed.

Leaving the fog lights on during night driving in good conditions is not good as it thows too much light on the road low in your vision and would bother oncoming traffic.

Any views and any corrections on my thoughts?

[bcl]

Yes, it is illegal, and my wife was booked by Castle Hill police several years ago when driving her WRX.

When questioned about it,she was not aware that they were on, nor how to turn them off. They had been on for several years whenever the headlights were turned on. No warning, just a straight booking. At the time I rang Castle Hill police, and they said they were targeting people driving with fog lights on when conditions didn't warrant it.

It was the subject of a lot of debate on a WRX Club forum with varying opinions.

The police view is that they can be a distraction to oncoming traffic.

It is the law, and or course there are many laws we don't agree with. If you disobey eventually you'll get booked.

Brian

[Guest kryzak260]

I think that they should be switched in with high beams aswell as a 'foggie' switch. This way, they are usfull for that extra light at night, but when you flick your high beams off, they go out too. This should'nt be a legal problem or anything because other drivers are never suposed to see your high beams anyway....

[Guest DZ.]

I think that they should be switched in with high beams aswell as a 'foggie' switch. This way, they are usfull for that extra light at night, but when you flick your high beams off, they go out too. This should'nt be a legal problem or anything because other drivers are never suposed to see your high beams anyway....

If you've ever driven through thick fog you'll appreciate why they aren't connected to the high beams. You can't use highbeams in fog - all you get is a wall of cloud. They're low for a reason and that's to get under it - especially helpful in hitting the reflectors on the road if they're there.

Having said that, the lights are aimed low and they aren't any brighter than normal headlights. So personally, I have to say what's the big deal? Various areas of NSW is trying the "lights safe" thing or whatever where you drive with your lights on in the day time. At night time, if any lights bother me it's just your normal run of the mill lights - other people's fog lights have never been an issue.

[Guest kryzak260]

yeah DZ I drive through a lot of fog, and that why I said "and a foggie switch". By this, I mean that you can flick the foggie switch on, to just have the foggies running in fog, but have them set to automatically turn on also when the high beams are switched on...