Wednesday 9th was a pretty grotty day for driving especially down south what with the rain & spray ,but a lot of drivers who passed me on the M40 s/bound around 7am ish were using fog lights, dazzling me, causing me to take my eyes `off the road` momentarily. This is not safe because if you focus on fog lamps you may not notice brake lights coming on suddenly, although if you`re at the correct braking distance it shouldn`t be a problem , but how many drivers maintain a proper safe distance? i.e a two second gap, i personally like to see plenty of tarmac between me and the vehicle in front but there`s always someone eager to fill the gap oblivious to the fact that my truck takes longer to stop the `his` car!
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i personally like to see plenty of tarmac between me and the vehicle in front but there`s always someone eager to fill the gap oblivious to the fact that my truck takes longer to stop the `his` car!
Err, leave a bigger gap, then ????
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i personally like to see plenty of tarmac between me and the vehicle in front
Sorry, but you must be one of the very rare truck drivers. Most I encounter seem to want to share my boot space, or latch on to the rear bumper of the truck in front.
Why not do as most other truck drivers do - blind us with your half dozen headlights and deafen us with your air horns....................
Sorry - but I'm in rant mood having suffered that yesterday when I was tottling along at 50 mph in a 50 limit which has average speed cameras..............
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Why not do as most other truck drivers do - blind us with your half dozen headlights and deafen us with your air horns....................
Sorry - but I'm in rant mood having suffered that yesterday when I was tottling along at 50 mph in a 50 limit which has average speed cameras..............
I`m one of those drivers that doesn`t go in for `bling`, why should i spend my hard earned on a vehicle that i don`t own? but i see your point.
It`s just that every time i leave a suitable gap, someone fills it!!
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It`s just that every time i leave a suitable gap someone fills it!!
I think I know what you mean, it gets very frustrating for me, even in a car doing 70mph. Some people don't leave any room at all causing me to brake, and you can sometimes get one car after another cutting in. There's really no need to people to cut in front of truck drivers on motorways, there is more than enough space for them to overtake safely.
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I'm with the OP on this one!
Rear fogs used in slight mist, even when stationary are one of my pet hates.
Sometimes I think it's a mimser reaction to "oh dear, oh dear, mist, I must have suddenly become invisable"
As mentioned it's the dazzle problem with masking brake lights.
I did start a thread, regarding using front fogs in poorish conditions, which I think is quite a different situation. But perhaps I'd better not go on ...............
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There are occasions in heavy rain and spray where the vehicles in front become "invisible" amongst the grey of a motorway. Rear fogs give an added bit of safety.Helps stop BMW/Audi man from rear ending. The normal rear lights on many LGVs and coaches are too small and inadequate for said conditions. Too many of them don't even use lights at all.
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people who do 50 mph in an average speed camera zone get flashed/beeped/cursed because they are rarely doing 50. Usually 45 or so because of wrongly calibrated speedometers. Lorry drivers have an accurate readout so that's why they parp their horns.
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I was on the M6 this week around Stoke (J15) on Monday tea time, when the heavens opened................believe me you needed every light available it was so bad.
I was actually frightened at one point for about 10 seconds as I had no forwards visibility at all. What really made it worse was the truck that got right up my chuff (and stayed there) as I slowed from around 60ish to less than 40 MPH.
The conditions had to be seen to be believed.
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I was actually frightened at one point for about 10 seconds as I had no forwards visibility at all. What really made it worse was the truck that got right up my chuff (and stayed there) as I slowed from around 60ish to less than 40 MPH.
The conditions had to be seen to be believed.
I DO understand the situation you found yourself in, but , being `up there ` in the truck cab, we have greater forward visibility and can see around over the spray.
I`m not defending for one minute, another truckers bad attitude to other drivers, but with the restrictions we have on driving hours and having to take legal breaks , maybe the drivers schedule got the better of him!
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50 mph in an average speed camera zone get flashed/beeped/cursed because they are rarely doing 50. Usually 45.....that's why they parp their horns.
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But the 50 mph is a Maximum speed; not a Minimum speed. So that even if they are doing 45mph, that is quite legal.
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If the visibility was reduced severely by spray I would use my single central rear high intensity light to lessen the chances of being rear ended.
Little chance of that being confused with brake lights.
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I do use my foglights when conditions dictate whether that be fog or severe spray. It is irritating when people leave them on when the conditions improve.
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From my test days in 2003 I remember that rear fog lights should only be used when visibility less than 50 yards. Fortunately despite any fog or rainy conditions I have never needed to switch on.
Mind as prev mentioned not many put their lights on in the rain - again I was told this was required.
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Simple really! - if you can see the rear lights of the car infront at the minimum 2 second gap, then dont turn your fogs (front or rear) on.
in fact i'm quite suprised that with all the technology pumped into vehicles today, that operation of fog-lights is still a "manual" operation. Would be so simple to have a sensor controlled system that decides for you whether they are needed or not.
Billy
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Really billy ? I hate the idea of a car that thinks it knows better than me ! I loath and despise the notion of automatic lights, wipers, distance control etc. I paid for the thing so I'm in charge thank-you-very-blinking-much !!
;-)
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Ah yes, but "we" are of the "Knowledgeable" few! and "we" wouldn't dream of irritating other drivers with inappropiate use of Fog-lights.
This thread is virtually about all the other "muppets" out there that dont know how thier car works! - they are the ones that the car has to think for them, and deciding if they need fogs or not could make "our" driving lives so muck easier.! ;-)
Billy
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Fair point I suppose. I'd forgotten about the limitations of the "others" !
;-0
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Really billy ? I hate the idea of a car that thinks it knows better than me ! I loath and despise the notion of automatic lights wipers distance control etc. I paid for the thing so I'm in charge thank-you-very-blinking-much !! ;-)
I agree (although I take the point that for many people, not having to remember to do things themselves might be an attractive option).
What I don't understand is the way fog light switches operate. In my car, it's a button I push to toggle the lights on and off, but either way the button stays where it is (as opposed to a stalk or switch with different positions for on and off). This means that if I turn the ignition off with the fog lights on, when I turn the ignition back on again the fog lights are off. Seems very sensible for something that's not usually needed and can be a problem when it's unnecessarily on.
I presume from the number of people who still have the lights on some days after the fog has dispersed that not all cars are like this.
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>>Sorry, but you must be one of the very rare truck drivers. Most I encounter seem to >>want to share my boot space, or latch on to the rear bumper of the truck in front.
>>Why not do as most other truck drivers do - blind us with your half dozen headlights >>and deafen us with your air horns....................
>>Sorry - but I'm in rant mood having suffered that yesterday when I was tottling >>along at 50 mph in a 50 limit which has average speed cameras..............
Slightly off topic, but this happened to me only last week on the A1 near Wetherby where they are widening the A1. Average speed cameras, 50mph and a truck comes within inches of my tailgate and leashes fury on my car!! Airhorn, flashing a grill of lights etc!! I was doing 50 bang on my speedo and get this complete idiot trying to push me off the road for doing the advised limit.
They are supposed to be professionals and can accept you get bad in every industry, only most other professionals dont compromise my safety on a daily basis.
On topic though - I have had front fogs on my cars for the last 10 years and used them only a handful of times when conditions dictate and I cover 30K a year on average!! Doubt why anyone would ever need to change a fog lamp bulb to be honest!!!
Edited by bbroomlea{P} on 12/07/2008 at 01:18
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I was recently working in an area where I didn't need to use my car for trips to the local retail park (I need to buy red wine and stuffed olives quite frequently, for health reasons ;)) so, on foot, over a few days, I gained insight into the use of front fog lamps in good visibility. My walk to the supermarket took me through a McDonald's car park and drive through, and, after a few days I noticed that many of the cars on the drive through and coming into the car park had fog lights on. It clearly is a sign that the driver is hungry (and quite possibly hearing impaired judging by the volume coming from their 8 track players).
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