Daytime Fog lights Poll

[Mr Tidy]

I have no problem with fog lights at day in lieu of DRL's if you don't have them. They're not dazzling and help the car be seen.
However, fog lights at night :x . For some reason it seems that NZ drivers have been mired in a technological backwater for so long that when they get a vehicle with the bonus of fog lights it is seen as absolutely obligatory to drive with them at night - especially if it is an SUV where the fog lights are perfectly in line with your rear view mirror (thank god for auto dimming mirrors...).
I believe it is illegal to drive with them at night here (unless foggy obviiously) but I've never heard of anyone being ticketed, but the police are not usually bothered with minor things like this, more after speeders, non-seat belt wearers and cellphone users.
Okay, it's not the end of the world, but it's the little things that push our buttons... :wink:

It is technically illegal to drive with fog-lights here too, unless it is foggy!

But neither of the police officers on patrol on any one day is aware of that so it is a bit like using hand-held mobiles while "driving" and smoking in the car with children inside - it may be illegal but nobody has ever been convicted because cameras cannot detect it, and both of the police officers on duty are on their break when it happens!

 

[jack07]

Soon as the engine is running,dipped headlights on,every time,I believe has helped me way past the million mile marker
In and out of tree cover,building shadow,bright sunshine or low level light conditions,add in glass glare and even a sharp eyed careful driver may just lose you for that critical moment if you have no lights burning.A no brainer for me.

 

[jakblade]

Another vote for cooling Ducts.

What are DRL's :?

Hhmmm I have the best of all worlds. Ducts. DRL angels and fogs.
centre of halo is the fog.

Top pic is just the drl's halo at night....no need for fog....sure someone is gonna come along and tell me it's illegal but it's gone through mot ok so who gives a hoot....live a little.

P.S. how do you stop pics turning when added????
Most annoying..... :x

 

[RickRob]

It's a no from me.

 

[Ducklakeview]

My daughter (who passed her test yesterday) has just driven off up the road in a black car at 10:30 pm without putting her lights on - just as predicted !
- Thank God I fitted DRLs before we gave her the car. :wink:

I Managed to phone her and tell her, but those two minutes could have been disaterous.

Let me hazard a guess, that the car she is driving is one of those where the instrument lights are on as soon as the ign is? I reckon this is the reason I used to see so many people driving at night in town with zero lights on when I was on the cabs. I think the fact that the dash is all lit up means they don't realise they have no lights on! Not too long ago, the dashboards of cars were in darkness until you at at least the sidelights on, and maybe with the introduction of DRL's, it would have been a good idea to go back to this, therefore prompting people to switch their bloody lights on when they couldn't see the speedo!

Mike

 

[buzyg]

My daughter (who passed her test yesterday) has just driven off up the road in a black car at 10:30 pm without putting her lights on - just as predicted !
- Thank God I fitted DRLs before we gave her the car. :wink:

I Managed to phone her and tell her, but those two minutes could have been disaterous.

Let me hazard a guess, that the car she is driving is one of those where the instrument lights are on as soon as the ign is? I reckon this is the reason I used to see so many people driving at night in town with zero lights on when I was on the cabs. I think the fact that the dash is all lit up means they don't realise they have no lights on! Not too long ago, the dashboards of cars were in darkness until you at at least the sidelights on, and maybe with the introduction of DRL's, it would have been a good idea to go back to this, therefore prompting people to switch their bloody lights on when they couldn't see the speedo!

Mike

Good point here. In my Mazda the dash lights up with the side lights on. You can't tell the difference, inside the car, between side lights and dipped beam, unless you look at the position of the switch on the stalk. Not very clever. :?

 

[GreyZed]

I have swapped my front fog light bulbs for DRL style LED units and always have them on in the daytime to give me the best chance of being seen in such a low grey coloured fast moving object! I'm certain it reduces the number of times people pull out in front of me.

I'm sure factory fit DRLs are getting so bright these days that they are way brighter than E85 halogen fogs anyway. As for being illegal the rules quoted earlier clearly refer to high intensity rear fogs due to their potential to impede brake light visibility and not front fogs. Remember that rear fogs or rather 'fog' became a legal requirement to be fitted whereas front fogs are still an option and when the rules were penned there were virtually no standard fit front fog lights in existence anyway.

I have never been dazzled by front fogs I don't think you can be due to the beam angle and pattern.

 

[ronk]

Saab and Volvo had daylight lights in the late 70's early 80's. - then they went out of vogue - now they are back with a vengeance !

DRLs are not fog lights tho which is a no from me.

 

[Darren Slone]

Definitely a no no from me :thumbsdown:

 

[john-e89]

No don't do it, you look like a self important dick, bloody annoying having one behind you as well. :thumbsdown:

 

[PerryGunn]

Saab and Volvo had daylight lights in the late 70's early 80's. - then they went out of vogue - now they are back with a vengeance !

Aren't all new cars now fitted with DRLs because it's an EU requirement rather than a styling fad?

 

[ZermattV]

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/topics/vehicles/daytime_running_lights/index_en.htm

 

[Number5]

F*ck me, so do you really think it is OK to unleash someone in a car onto the roads we have to use/share who apparently cannot tell day from night but can accept an incoming call on their 'phone while trying to "drive" at night with no lights?! I hope your daughter never travels far! (well not far enough to get anywhere near where I live)!

Thats why I fitted DRL's and a bluetooth kit to the car . As she disappeared I had the comfort of knowing the front was well illuminated and I could contact her without her having to touch her phone handset. Whilst frustrating to see her make such a basic error, I knew as a parent I had pre-empted the situation and provided the safety net.

Have you got children of your own Mr Tidy ?
I can tell you that when all their mates start passing their tests at 17 and they no longer want a lift from Mummy or Daddy, as Tom/Dick or Harry is picking them up in a beaten up Corsa, its a very worrying time.
However, at some point, you have to give them a little rope and let them go.

 

[ronk]

Indeed, when your curly haired little girl first drives off its worry worry worry til she arrives home !

 

[Geezah]

In almost a million miles of driving, I have never been blinded by someones front fog lights. However, I have been blinded on an almost daily basis by t**ts who have their headlights incorrectly set or by using illegal high powered bulbs or a combination of both. This is the real problem.

I see no practical difference between DRL's and front fog lights, the heights seem to be in the same bracket, the brightness seems to be in the same bracket too.

It's got nothing to do with being cool. It's about being seen. Since I started riding motorbikes at age 16, I have always driven with my headlights on, 24/7, accepting the kindly flashes from drivers telling me I have my headlights on. I go through a lot of headlight bulbs which can be fiddly to replace. Since the advent of LED bulbs, on the Zed, I now use the fog lights fitted with LED bulbs permanently as they last almost forever. Of course you have to have your sidelights on as well for the fog lights to come on, they're LEDs too.

 

[enzed4]

Of course you have to have your sidelights on as well for the fog lights to come on, they're LEDs too.

I believe you can code the fogs as DRL's so you don't need the sidelights. I saw it as an option when I coded my DRL's (angel eyes).
During the day, fogs or DRL's are an effective way to be seen.

 

[Adam D]

Couple of chavs in an M badged 5 series diesel glued to my bumper last night after dark with no headlights on....just the Angel eyes and fog lights, "coz it looks wikkid innit"

:thumbsdown:

 

[Geezah]

Of course you have to have your sidelights on as well for the fog lights to come on, they're LEDs too.

I believe you can code the fogs as DRL's so you don't need the sidelights. I saw it as an option when I coded my DRL's (angel eyes).
During the day, fogs or DRL's are an effective way to be seen.

I like the idea of that Enzed, however I wouldnt have a clue where to start coding, how simple is it?

 

[enzed4]

Of course you have to have your sidelights on as well for the fog lights to come on, they're LEDs too.

I believe you can code the fogs as DRL's so you don't need the sidelights. I saw it as an option when I coded my DRL's (angel eyes).
During the day, fogs or DRL's are an effective way to be seen.

I like the idea of that Enzed, however I wouldnt have a clue where to start coding, how simple is it?

If you want to do it all for free, you need a laptop, and 'acquire' INPA, NCS/NCS Dummies then do a lot of reading and learning on the coding forums (there are some good guides to help on the forums)....
OR, I believe you can do it all through the Carly App (for Android or IOS) which I think is about £30ish, as long as you buy the right cable to plug into your OBD port in the car. Carly sell a cable they recommend, but I already had one that worked for INPA/NCS so I didn't need it.
Let me check my Carly app and I'll see if it has the full DRL coding. I'm pretty sure it does as I think I used it to turn off the DRL function when I removed my angel eye headlights and went back to OEM (I'm in the process of opening up the angel eye headlights to get the chrome bits painted black - looks much better on a black car, IMHO)

 

[mmm-five]

Don't have front fogs on the M, so no worries about me blinding/annoying anyone.

However, I was changing a sidelight bulb on the Alfa the other day and noticed that the foglights are set up in the main light unit at the same height as the dip/main beam.

The bottom lights I thought were foglights are indicators