Headlamps, fog lamps, daytime and position lamps

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gyrogearloose, Aug 1, 11:49pm
How hard can it be for the Police to observe and catch them?

Same as brake lights - I really wonder when I see "professional drivers" such as Taxi's with defective lights.
marte, Aug 2, 12:01am
Since the police started using the Kia's I don't see as many police cars with one headlight, brake light or tail light/ numberplate bulb blown too.

But yeah Tacos, we had OneDrive for two months with just the left headlight, then the next month with just the driver's headlight.
The idiot almost hit my car at a ridiculous speed while it drove over a pedestrian crossing at night, he veered over into the incoming lane to avoid.
There only had to be one thing different & it could have been life involved.
Obviously racing to another job because after ten blocks he slows & U turns.
marte, Aug 2, 12:06am
Yep, at night, our streets are very wide & I don't travel over 50 kmh.
With the fog lights I can see if a cats sitting under a car parked on the side of the road & can be 'ready to brake'.
I found since then that a lot less cats run out in front of me ( it was often within a car length ,) after I started using the foglights ,( the in bumper sort ).
So there's something about them that gives the cats better indication of where a car is, I think.
electromic, Aug 2, 3:18am
I use my fog lights as daytime running lights, my reasons are below.
*they are a standard white halogen lamp, not yellow as they should be for fog.
**the lamp is in the same housing as the main light.
***the lamps are dual filament, the second filament is beam. They are cheap to replace (H4) not like the HID which I save for night time. My lights are set to auto so when they come on I turn off the "fog" lamps.
****they are better for oncoming drivers than the HID dip lamps
*****I would rather be seen than not, I have had way less cars pull out in front of me since using them.
******99.9% of people coming towards me would never know that they are fog lights, they look and act like dip/low beam.
Car = grey 2005 Nissan stagea.
sarahb5, Aug 2, 3:37am
So the fact that fog lights are illegal in clear daylight conditions is irrelevant to you?
electromic, Aug 2, 4:08am
If the fog lights were being used instead of dip/low beam when low beam was needed then I would have a problem. Same if they were bumper mounted yellow lights. White lights in fog are really bad for vision, they need to be yellow. My lights have a standard H4 60/55w lamp the same as a plain old headlights where one is dip and one is beam so I am happy to be seen in the rain/fog/daytime with them on. I never use them at night. I consider mine to be daytime running lights and so did the WOF inspector. "An interesting light cluster" was his exact words. I guarantee you that you would not even know that they were fog lights, they are in the exact correct position and alignment for low/high beam. The Hid low beam lights, on the other hand, look like added extras and the light colour and intensity is awful for oncoming drivers.
Edited to say. I have 30+ years in the automotive trade so know the rules and know that my car is safe and well maintained. It would pass any PPI, would yours.
robbief, Aug 2, 8:44pm
i have stopped driving at nights with all those bright lights now they hurt my eyes i dont feel safe now.
bumfacingdown, Aug 2, 9:19pm
If you don't call them fog lights are they still illegal?
annie17111, Aug 2, 9:21pm
have you had your eyes checked lately? Bright lights at nighty being blinding was how we figured out my husband had cataracts, he was 37 at the time.
sarahb5, Aug 3, 12:38am
Honey I don’t even know what PPI means . but I do have factory fitted fog lamps front and rear which I’ve never used because there hasn’t been any fog since I bought the car and I have no problems seeing and being seen
sarahb5, Aug 3, 12:38am
It seems some users think not
electromic, Aug 3, 1:19am
PPI is short for pre purchase inspection, I do 100 a year and only pass 10% of cars. You have raised a very valid point about the use of lights and I support what you are saying in general terms but will have to disagree for my particular car. I don't have separate fog lights in the front or back. I don't consider my lights to be "fog" lights and I drive in plenty of fog, I am in the Waikato. I consider them to be the lights that I use when I want to be seen but don't need any lights to see where I am going. I have checked with my WOF/COF inspector and he agrees that in my particular case with my particular car that I'm all good to call and use them as daytime running lights. Your car sounds completely different from mine. All you need to know is that you will see my dark grey car on a dark grey road on an overcast day because I will have some form of lights on. You will not know what lights I am using you will just see two headlights working, I only have two and they both work. I had 5 very close encounters, in daylight, with cars pulling out in front of me in the first week of driving this car, they stopped after I started using my lights. Thank you for a great discussion point.
marte, Aug 3, 1:35am
The B5 has its fog lights inside the headlight & they point downwards sharply. The headlights & ndicator are seperate & the headlight has all the High/low bulbs, foglights and position lamp built into the one unit.
The position lamps are just 5 watt bulbs designed to light up the surface of the headlight to give a large light panel, without providing illumination.

It's also got a neat cabin controlled levelling system that you adjust depending on how many people in the car.

The B5.5 has the foglights built into the under bumper as seperate lights and a one piece headlights/indicator setup. There's 2 X 50 watt high/low bulbs, 5 watt position lamp & 21 watt orange bulb indicator bulb.

This also points out that if your car has 'Position lamps' and hasn't got factory 'daytime driving lights' then the foglights are foglights, no matter what you call them.
5 watts is a position lamp wattage, 50 watts is a illumination lamp wattage.

Also, is it even possible to turn on the foglights without having the headlights on at the same time? None of my cars can do this.
We all know that you are not allowed to use headlights during the daytime except in those special circumstances that we all should know about, and are pretty obvious anyway.
ally-oop, Aug 3, 2:39am
If I'm put in that position (behind a vehicle with dazzlingly bright rear fog light/s) i just put my headlights on high beam until there's an opportunity to overtake them.
berg, Aug 3, 3:45am
2sheddies, Aug 3, 3:56am
So you're happy to blind the shit out of every oncoming motorist just to spite the one in front?
ally-oop, Aug 3, 8:00am
I dip my lights when there's oncoming traffic, and, significantly, there's no spite involved, rather it's sending a message which may result in education and improvement. It also takes the edge off the concentrated dazzling, distracting brightness for me.
marte, Aug 3, 12:45pm
That Audi switch, B6 onwards, you turn clockwise one click for the position lamps, another click for headlights, then pull one click for the front foglights, another click to add the higher drivers side rear fog lamp.
It's easy to pull two clicks & not know what's happening back there.

Some people connect the brake light connections to both rear fog lamp lights for a better brake light.

On the B5 it's a seperate centre consul switch for each end.

Queenstowners & their Audis. LoL.
ally-oop, Aug 4, 2:39am
It might be easy to pull two clicks and not know what's going on back there, but smart people wonder why things are happening, and if i was driving a car equipped with such lights and someone following me had their headlights on high beam and only dipped them for oncoming traffic, I'd put 2 and 2 together and get the message.
sw20, Aug 4, 4:14am
I do the same. Most of the time the retards don't even know they have their rear fogs on.
bigfatmat1, Dec 13, 9:19am
i would get your eyes checked. I use to find it extremely difficult to drive at night because of oncoming headlights being dazzling or extremely bright. I knew I had eyesite problems but not how bad it was. They recommended lasik eye surgery. Since then I have better than normal vision and no problems driving at night.