Having worked the last 4 nights in the fog hauling fruit n veg between Spalding and Falkirk whats the oppinions on rear fog lights and there use,Some are that bright when you follow them they actually dassle and you cannot see there brake lights especially when you are struggling to keep the windscreen clear(truck in for service at volvo Carlisle on Monday and they filled the screen wash up with water which froze). My own policy on fog lights are in the fog use rear fogs if i am on my own but if am being followed i turn them off so not to dassle the truck behind .I have a new Gray and Adams fridge with 20 red lights on the rear (factory fitted and over the top)and they are bright enough without useing the rear fogs
Annoys the hell out of me Klunk, my policy is, if I can see the vehicle behind me apart from his lights, he can see me without fogs, and switch 'em off. If there is no-one in view in fog, front or back, that is when you need to put them on.
it`s mainly car & van drivers who put their fog lights on at the first wisp of a mist , then forget about them after, also, rotary orange beacons attached to long loads irritate me as well!
happy xmas &new year
roy…
Over the last couple of days I’ve been driving up in The Fens and the fog has been fairly thick , although most of the time visibility wasn’t less than 100 metres. I adopted the approach detailed above. When nothing was behind me I turned the rear fogs on so anyone approaching from behind would have plenty of warning, when a vehicle appeared I put them on.
I did have one very close call this afternoon in March. I was pulling out of the place I had just loaded in and the fog was very thick, visibility about 50 metres. After waiting for vehicles to pass I started to pull out when out of the fog to my right appeared a dark grey car with no lights on at all, and he wasn’t hanging about. I leapt on the brakes but I was already part way into the road which meant he swerved onto the other side to miss me by inches. He sped away regardless, didn’t even pause to hurl any abuse at me. I’m glad he missed me though because I can just imagine the amount of paperwork I would have had to fill in.
Same goes for me - fogs on if it’s foggy and no traffic behind me - fogs off when vehicle behind is close enough to see I’m there.
I suppose most fog lights put on recently will still be on by next June! 
Maybe they could have a really annoying, tamper-proof alarm 
grumpybum:
Maybe they could have a really annoying, tamper-proof alarm
I don’t think it would be beyond the bounds of current technology to have some kind of sensor fitted to them so when visibility has improved to a level where they are no longer required, and they have not been turned of within 5 minutes of this improvement, something pops out of the headrest and smacks them hard on the side of the head.
something pops out of the headrest and smacks them hard on the side of the head.
Maybe I could just pull up alongside them and do the same?
There’s actually a part that covers use of fog lights in Lighting Regs which states that they shouldn’t be used if they will dazzle following drivers.
grumpybum:
something pops out of the headrest and smacks them hard on the side of the head.
Maybe I could just pull up alongside them and do the same?
I fear it is a job that would be far too big for one man. 
Coffeeholic:
…a dark grey car …
They usually are, or silver 
Agree that you should turn rear fogs off when you have traffic behind that can see you without them.
A couple of other things I have noticed - front fogs, why use them in daylight, they are less visible than dipped headlamps and they don’t allow you to see any better before dark.
Vehicles with just sidelights on are actually worse than those with no lights (who just have no brain) - they have obviously recognised the need for lights but you see the shgadow outine before you see anything from the sidelights.
Why do some trucks run with only sidelights in fog? The drivers don’t have to pay for the bulbs 
TC
i suppose this is going off topic a bit but
the beging of the week saw me doing drops round london ,harlow & hatfield was liastening to lbc coz i’m sick of radio 2 ( sorry dark lord please dont shrink me goblins for being disloyal )
round 06.00 the traffic girl read out a the report detailing all road that were closed or delayed with massive tail backs and ended her report telling people to put on their fog lights .
what a great idea 10 miles of tail back that can be seen from the dark side of the moon
just got me 
The_Catman:
Coffeeholic:
…a dark grey car …They usually are, or silver
Very true TC, also in the last few days known as camouflage.
I did have one very close call this afternoon in March
And there was me thinking it was almost the end of December.
pugwash:
I did have one very close call this afternoon in March
And there was me thinking it was almost the end of December.
Nah, I operate in a different time zone, or is it on a different planet? 
Its the idiots who drive in clear weather with their front fogs on that irritate the hell out of me now. At night that is. Its about 1 truck in 8 that does it now.
I’ve got a real gripe with it.
Catman. The MAN I’ve been driving for the last two years has the front and rear fog lights on the same switch. You can’t have the rear fogs on without the front ones being on as well.
None of them will come on unless at least the sidelights are on.
Simon:
Catman. The MAN I’ve been driving for the last two years has the front and rear fog lights on the same switch. You can’t have the rear fogs on without the front ones being on as well.
None of them will come on unless at least the sidelights are on.
Interesting Simon. I’m sure someone can come up with a situation where it isn’t legal to have both on at the same time
TC
The_Catman:
Simon:
Catman. The MAN I’ve been driving for the last two years has the front and rear fog lights on the same switch. You can’t have the rear fogs on without the front ones being on as well.
None of them will come on unless at least the sidelights are on.Interesting Simon. I’m sure someone can come up with a situation where it isn’t legal to have both on at the same time
TC
if you don’t need the rear ones on you don’t need the front ones on but that isn’t always true if you reverse the statement
The highway code:
201: You MUST use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced, generally when you cannot see for more than 100 metres (328 feet). You may also use front or rear fog lights but you MUST switch them off when visibility improves (see Rule 211).
Law RVLR regs 25 & 27
I have been driving in situations where I have had to turn my headlights off and just use front and rear fog lights as the glare was too great from the headlights (freezing fog at night)
The highway code:
211: You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 201) as they dazzle other road users and can obscure your brake lights. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves.
Law RVLR regs 25 & 27
I also agree with every one who turns rear fogs off when the vehicle behind is close enough that they can see you without them being on.
My car does not allow me to turn on the rear fog lights without first turning the front ones on
‘Not being able to see the brake light’
Could this be why a lot of new up market cars I saw on Saturday on the M8 have only one rear fog light, always on the right side. The cynic in me thought it was a cost cutting exercise, but my 18 month old Astra has two rear fog lights.
Rear lights on cars seem to be ruled by the stylists more than engineers just now. I’ve always thought a good seperation of the brake, sidelights and indicators is the sensible safe set up, but more and more I see them all clumped together where you have to be much closer to the vehicle to see what the driver is up to, especially the turn indicators.
There is a minimum spacing rule between rear fog lights & brake lights, but it isn’t much.
Noticed a car the other day that had the now not so often seen twin filament bulbs in the tail lights with the tail light & fog light combined & the brake lights separate.
A few years back it would have been the tail/brake light on the twin fil bulb & the fog separate.
If i were to have my own trailer, i would definately want the LED 6 set euro lights. So clearly seen or what? 6 brake lights, 3 indicators a side, the brightness & clarity of LED’s, excellent.