Just having people turn their lights on at all would be great!!I live rural and nothing scarier than an unlit car suddenly emerging from the fog at 100km/hour when you are trying to cross a road. Saturday morning was really foggy rural Canterbury and the number of numptys driving around with no lights on was astounding!! You didnt need lights to see you needed them so others could see you!!
I commute in Christchurch during 5:30am-6:00am and its staggering how many people are driving around in the dark with *NO* lights on, or just park lights. Sometimes its dark, raining, foggy all at once and people still dont have their lights on. Its incredible. Darwin awards candidates everywhere down here.
Because fog lights are low and wide, and illuminate the sides of the road, I turn them on when driving winding, switchback roads like the Akatarawa Hill Road. Under the trees its gloomy even in daylight, and things lurk in the shadows at the side of the road. At night theyre invaluable as the main beams can miss a rock or pothole close to the edge of the road, especially immediately around a sharp corner. But other than that (and when its foggy) theyre off.My European car also has the bright rear foglamps, which Ive only ever used once in a real pea souper. I HATE it when drivers - especially of older BMWs - dont even now theyve engaged their second set of brake lights and dazzle the cars behind them.
My pet hate is European cars driving on a perfectly clear night with the rear fog lamp on. Totally blinds anyone close behind them Had one up past Victoria University, couldnt see anyone on the footpath 2m away and couldnt see people on the pedestrian crossing, which was between us, until they blocked the fog lamp. Very frustrating and somewhat dangerous.
Is it just me or are the new car lights too powerful they really hurt my eyes and flicker really bad when behind you ?i have very good vision Im 32
I wish more people would turn their lights on in bad weather or low light. You might be able to see where your going but the other function of your lights is to let other drivers or road users know that you are there. Its very hard to see grey or white cars in low light conditions if they have no lights on.
My car has no fog lights, but I understand I need to use normal beam, not high beam in fog. I see a lot of people with these really bright extra lights on even in the day and they can be quite blinding. So only use your fog lights in fog!And I see heaps of cars in heavy fog, with NO lights on the Hauraki Plains all the time. Probably 1 in 6 with no lights. Turn your lights on people!
I see a lot of people driving at night with their fog lights on, when there is no fog. I suspect they simply dont know the rules. However theres also no enforcement (maybe just a warning in the first instance). Similarly with people parked facing the wrong way - no enforcement. If theres no enforcement then there really are no rules.
How are cars with headlights on during the day a distraction? Genuine question. During the day you dont see much more than the illuminated bulbs themselves, during the night however you see the entire beam, so technically wouldnt that be more distracting?
Most annoying are people who drive in clear conditions with their rear red fog lamps on that are soooooo bright they make you squint and make it difficult to detect if they are braking.
Youve forgotten that fog lights are also to be used everywhere and anywhere if you drive an SUV or 4WD ute. Its an essential part of being an arrogant road user...
I don't know if the reason is that Stuff's editors assumed their readership are intelligent enough, but from what I've seen, road users definitely need it to be stated explicitly.If it is not foggy, fog lights should be OFF, especially when rear fogs are fitted.Thank you. You're welcome.
Thankfully you're not making the rules, because there would be even more crashes if you were.
Agreed. It really pees me off when I get behind a European car drivers who has their rear fog lights on and it nearly blinds you.
Well done. And what are park lights for? Why parking of course. Particularly when in an area where there is little or no street lights so moving vehicles can see there is a vehicle parked on the side of the road. Park lights are not DRLs, Fog or Spot lights and should not be used as such (in fact they are virtually useless substitutes for any of those lights). Dipped lights and Fog lights also help others see there is a car coming along the road in fog or low visibility situations (heavy rain), such as farmers in slow moving tractors trying to pull out of a gateway onto the road.
Actually turning on your rear fog lights in heavy rain is the WORST thing you can do - they create a high intensity light the effect of which is magnified by rain. The result is that not only do you dazzle drivers behind you - you also make your actual brake lights harder to see when you apply your brakes. The result - higher likelihood that somebody following will tail end you. High intensity rear fog lights became a legal requirement in Europe in 1979 - they were intended for use solely in conditions when FOG made your car invisible to following traffic. Unfortunately - the message to New Zealanders has been completely lost in translation and the total refusal by Highway Patrol officers to police anything other than speed.
DRLs must be wired to turn off when either the dipped or main beam headlights are onExcept they are not. Even on near new cars, I often see the DRL operating even when the headlights are on. The other thing Ive noticed is that a lot of DRLs are fitted right next to the indicator lamp, and bright DRL next to a basic indicator lamp means the effectiveness of the indicator is diminished quite a bit. It is only some of the very expensive Euros where the DRL turns off while an indicator is operating.Lastly the most irritating thing about drivers who use fog lamps in clear weather are those that seem unaware that a rear fog light is incredibly bright. Following a car with the rear fog light on is like having a red searchlight boring into your eyes. Stop it.
Seems to me weve people here using them for running lights. The level of intelligence seen on NZ roads is a worry and the statistics justify such worry. People using phones while driving should be banned from driving and heavily fined.
Goog on you Natasha08. Hopefully the people I follow on the Chch southern motorway will also learn something and turn their rear fog lights off!
I think the simple truth is that a good number of motorists have no idea that their car is even fitted with rear fog lights, and therefore don't know where the switch is to turn them off. Actually most people don't even know what a rear fog light is or how bright they can be.They pay minimal amount of attention to the color of the light symbols on their dash and so would never know unless someone pointed it out to them.As it is mandatory in Europe for vehicles to be fitted with at least one rear fog light, this affects mostly European car owners.
Just having people turn their lights on at all would be great!!I live rural and nothing scarier than an unlit car suddenly emerging from the fog at 100km/hour when you are trying to cross a road. Saturday morning was really foggy rural Canterbury and the number of numptys driving around with no lights on was astounding!! You didnt need lights to see you needed them so others could see you!!
I commute in Christchurch during 5:30am-6:00am and its staggering how many people are driving around in the dark with *NO* lights on, or just park lights. Sometimes its dark, raining, foggy all at once and people still dont have their lights on. Its incredible. Darwin awards candidates everywhere down here.
Because fog lights are low and wide, and illuminate the sides of the road, I turn them on when driving winding, switchback roads like the Akatarawa Hill Road. Under the trees its gloomy even in daylight, and things lurk in the shadows at the side of the road. At night theyre invaluable as the main beams can miss a rock or pothole close to the edge of the road, especially immediately around a sharp corner. But other than that (and when its foggy) theyre off.My European car also has the bright rear foglamps, which Ive only ever used once in a real pea souper. I HATE it when drivers - especially of older BMWs - dont even now theyve engaged their second set of brake lights and dazzle the cars behind them.
My pet hate is European cars driving on a perfectly clear night with the rear fog lamp on. Totally blinds anyone close behind them Had one up past Victoria University, couldnt see anyone on the footpath 2m away and couldnt see people on the pedestrian crossing, which was between us, until they blocked the fog lamp. Very frustrating and somewhat dangerous.
Is it just me or are the new car lights too powerful they really hurt my eyes and flicker really bad when behind you ?i have very good vision Im 32
I wish more people would turn their lights on in bad weather or low light. You might be able to see where your going but the other function of your lights is to let other drivers or road users know that you are there. Its very hard to see grey or white cars in low light conditions if they have no lights on.
My car has no fog lights, but I understand I need to use normal beam, not high beam in fog. I see a lot of people with these really bright extra lights on even in the day and they can be quite blinding. So only use your fog lights in fog!And I see heaps of cars in heavy fog, with NO lights on the Hauraki Plains all the time. Probably 1 in 6 with no lights. Turn your lights on people!
I see a lot of people driving at night with their fog lights on, when there is no fog. I suspect they simply dont know the rules. However theres also no enforcement (maybe just a warning in the first instance). Similarly with people parked facing the wrong way - no enforcement. If theres no enforcement then there really are no rules.
How are cars with headlights on during the day a distraction? Genuine question. During the day you dont see much more than the illuminated bulbs themselves, during the night however you see the entire beam, so technically wouldnt that be more distracting?
Most annoying are people who drive in clear conditions with their rear red fog lamps on that are soooooo bright they make you squint and make it difficult to detect if they are braking.
Youve forgotten that fog lights are also to be used everywhere and anywhere if you drive an SUV or 4WD ute. Its an essential part of being an arrogant road user...
I don't know if the reason is that Stuff's editors assumed their readership are intelligent enough, but from what I've seen, road users definitely need it to be stated explicitly.If it is not foggy, fog lights should be OFF, especially when rear fogs are fitted.Thank you. You're welcome.
Thankfully you're not making the rules, because there would be even more crashes if you were.
Agreed. It really pees me off when I get behind a European car drivers who has their rear fog lights on and it nearly blinds you.
Well done. And what are park lights for? Why parking of course. Particularly when in an area where there is little or no street lights so moving vehicles can see there is a vehicle parked on the side of the road. Park lights are not DRLs, Fog or Spot lights and should not be used as such (in fact they are virtually useless substitutes for any of those lights). Dipped lights and Fog lights also help others see there is a car coming along the road in fog or low visibility situations (heavy rain), such as farmers in slow moving tractors trying to pull out of a gateway onto the road.
Actually turning on your rear fog lights in heavy rain is the WORST thing you can do - they create a high intensity light the effect of which is magnified by rain. The result is that not only do you dazzle drivers behind you - you also make your actual brake lights harder to see when you apply your brakes. The result - higher likelihood that somebody following will tail end you. High intensity rear fog lights became a legal requirement in Europe in 1979 - they were intended for use solely in conditions when FOG made your car invisible to following traffic. Unfortunately - the message to New Zealanders has been completely lost in translation and the total refusal by Highway Patrol officers to police anything other than speed.
DRLs must be wired to turn off when either the dipped or main beam headlights are onExcept they are not. Even on near new cars, I often see the DRL operating even when the headlights are on. The other thing Ive noticed is that a lot of DRLs are fitted right next to the indicator lamp, and bright DRL next to a basic indicator lamp means the effectiveness of the indicator is diminished quite a bit. It is only some of the very expensive Euros where the DRL turns off while an indicator is operating.Lastly the most irritating thing about drivers who use fog lamps in clear weather are those that seem unaware that a rear fog light is incredibly bright. Following a car with the rear fog light on is like having a red searchlight boring into your eyes. Stop it.
Seems to me weve people here using them for running lights. The level of intelligence seen on NZ roads is a worry and the statistics justify such worry. People using phones while driving should be banned from driving and heavily fined.
Goog on you Natasha08. Hopefully the people I follow on the Chch southern motorway will also learn something and turn their rear fog lights off!
I think the simple truth is that a good number of motorists have no idea that their car is even fitted with rear fog lights, and therefore don't know where the switch is to turn them off. Actually most people don't even know what a rear fog light is or how bright they can be.They pay minimal amount of attention to the color of the light symbols on their dash and so would never know unless someone pointed it out to them.As it is mandatory in Europe for vehicles to be fitted with at least one rear fog light, this affects mostly European car owners.