What is up with this fog light epidemic?

Is this just a Pacific Northwest thing? Is this happening everywhere? I am not sure why this leapt to the top of the list of things that make me want to stab my fellow humans but why does everybody drive around with their berkelying fogs on at all times?

In the past month I have become increasingly more aware about how big of a problem it is and have started counting. On average 1 in 5 cars on the road in Eugene have them switched on. Weather conditions are clear, driving on well lit streets. No need for them whatsoever. What is worse is that during the day at least one in ten still have them on!

It isn't just people who think they look cool. Honestly WRX kids and lifted full size diesel trucks are habitually the worst offenders but in the grand scheme of things they are a pretty small percentage of the total.

It is illegal. They have a E36 M3ty beam pattern that causes a lot of glare without throwing out much helpful light. In the case of lifted trucks they are pointed right into the windows of regular sized cars. And to you flatbill wearing monster energy drink sticker sporting Imprezza kids, It doesn't make you look like your favorite ralley driver.

They started cracking down on folks last year and I knew 5 or 6 guys who got tickets for it but it seems to have stopped.

Oregons Law http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TS/docs/VehEq/11-002_foglights.pdf

Am I alone here? Is it just my aging eyes that are bothered more than others?

+1 on use on lifted trucks, proper "fog" lights work best at 18" or below.

I can tell you that the stock headlights on an unmodified 2010 Dodge 2500 diesel are terrible. In order to avoid blinding car drivers, they have to be aimed down at a fairly sharp angle. This means that, even though they do throw decent light, they don't throw it very far. You outdrive them at about 30 mph.

The "fog lights" on those trucks, on the other hand, put out much better light than the headlights do. Not just to the sides, but down the road. I suspect they're not affected by pesky DOT rules. So if you've got one of those trucks and you need your lights to see, you turn on the fogs. That's no excuse for running them in the city, but I use them on my drive home from work where there's little ambient light and lots of deer.

People here don't seem to use any lights at all unless it's pitch black outside.

I have factory fogs lights on my car, and never turn them on because they are useless.

Yeah, it irritates me. What's worse? People driving around with their REAR fog lights on!!! That gets me every time.

i'll worry more about people who just turn on their headlights in the dark/rain in GA before this -_-

as it is, the police like to pull over fog-light equipped vehicles because it usually means the driver can afford whatever ticket they're about to get.

DrBoost wrote: Yeah, it irritates me. What's worse? People driving around with their REAR fog lights on!!! That gets me every time.

Well, most of the rear fogs ( on European cars anyway) come on when you turn the fogs on. Audis are the worst for this. The rears actually are way more annoying.

every european car I have seen with rear fogs.. has a seperate switch for them.

Still does not stop people from driving around with them on.. and yes, Audi's are the worst.

I wired up the ones on my BMW.. I use them in really bad weather rather than the fronts.

I was actually astonished a few weeks ago. Pulled up to a light, guy behind me was in a lifted pickup, and he actually tuned his lights off because they were shining into my moms van.

And around here if a car has foglights, there's an 80% chance the driver is an asshat who has them on constantly. It goes up to 100% if the headlights are blue and the fogs are really bright.

Here in CA, I start to notice those fog lights too. And they're not even a proper fog light... they're super bright spotlight type with either yellow bulbs or yellow lense. Having an older car I use it to supplement my headlights with its wider beam so I can see the side of the road and its especially helpfull when making a turn. Its off at daytime unless its heavy fog or downpour.

My BMW has a non functioning rear foglight. I guess its only for the european models. I'd like to use it as an extra brakelight.

I started seeing that on Imprezas and it's made its way to other stuff, is there any particular reason for the yellow lights/lenses or is it just for looks?

They are supposed to cut fog better. I remember 'driving lights' on '60s sports cars were yellow. I heard they tinted the lenses with iodine, but that's childhood memory.

Regarding selective yellow lights read this

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/images/S-Yellow.pdf

mad_machine wrote: Still does not stop people from driving around with them on.. and yes, Audi's are the worst.

Indeed.

I also agree about the lights on Dodge trucks. They're pretty woeful on my '95 and I would have hoped after 16 years, they would be better. I guess not.

These days, the only good thing about fog lights, is when people have them on (which is most of time), I can be fairly sure their high-beams aren't on...

The gauges in my Saturn aren't the easiest to read, but turning on the fog lights turns the gauge lights on. I didn't know that it was a problem to be honest. They don't seem to put out much light in front of me, but I can see how they could reflect up from the road. The only time I have them on at night is when I need to see on the side of the road close to me, such as when I'm reading addresses on mailboxes or it's smoky or foggy.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if having the instrument panel lights on all the time could be programmed into the car via Tech II.

If my headlights are on, both pairs of my fog lights are on.

Sorry, I have a 22 year old Japanese economy car that didn't have great lighting in the first place. I like being able to see.

on the volvo there are the "fog lights" that are mounted right next to the head lights... I use them most of the time because they toss a little wider beam out... I don't have the "driving lights" that attach to the bumper... they prob would be a lot better in real fog situations...

for rear fog lights I've only used em once when It was real foggy out :)...

donalson wrote: on the volvo there are the "fog lights" that are mounted right next to the head lights... I use them most of the time because they toss a little wider beam out... I don't have the "driving lights" that attach to the bumper... they prob would be a lot better in real fog situations... for rear fog lights I've only used em once when It was real foggy out :)...

MX6 has those, in the same housing. I added driving lights. I have a big rear fog lights I need to install.

This is the first time in my entire life I've heard anyone complain about fog lights.

I'm incredibly sensitive to headlights at night. I have never once felt that incoming fog lights were an issue.

What exactly is the issue again? I can see it being a pain if they aren't aimed right, but how can they be any worse than regular headlights? I can also see it being an issue if they are overwattage bulbs, but that would be an issue for regular headlights as well.

My WRX has the factory fog lights and the do not make any detectable difference from the driver's seat. I think it is because the HID low beams are really good. I leave them off at all times. The ones on my miata actual throw a little light that can be seen from behind the wheel and I am guilty of driving with them on.

My FIL has a 2010 Ram and those headlights are useless. I swear I get better light from the WRX low beams that the Ram high beams. I was surprised at the crappiness and figure not many people take a test drive at night and end up dissapointed....maybe they are just psyched up about the hemi, who knows.

I don't have that much of a problem with the Dodge high beams - although when you supplement them with a pair of 100W Hella 4000 driving lights, that makes a big difference I think the problem with the low beams is simply how they have to be aimed because they're so far up in the air.

We didn't test drive ours at night - who tests cars at night? Besides, it's the carrying case for a Cummins. End of story.

I find the fogs very distracting. They dazzle me about as much as high beams do. It isn't like I have crap vision, 20/15 when checked last year. They are even more distracting in the rain. And the big thing is that they are almost useless in normal driving situations and worse than useless in the daytime.

Fogs are designed with a very short low/wide light pattern to be used when travelling slowly in low visibility situations. Having them on when driving above 40mph is pointless unless you want a quick glimpse of something on the road shoulder when it is too late to do anything about it. I feel having them on in any other situation is simply for your own vanity. Unless apparently you are in a full size dodge truck.

Spot lights. Get a cop car. Amaze yourself at what you can do with them.

I have them on almost every time I drive after dusk. If having them on means that I annoy you, but it also makes me more visible to Suzy McTeentexter, 17 year old suburban snowflake teen girl driver, and therefore, I stay alive when her maniacal ass is out and habitually not paying attention, then, i guess, you need to deal with it?!? Factory fogs dont do much, and mine are quite low to the ground ('10 GMC Terrain). Im fairly confident theyre not blinding anyone.

So, whats the problem again? You dont have a ruler in my yard after dark, making sure Im in compliance with the local HOA, do ya?...

Heh, there are a few vehicles in Canada that use the factory fog lamps as DRLs.