GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Bill_the_Bear on 04 July 2013, 12:33
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Those illuminated fog light pics that were posted looked super cool. Does anyone remember what the rules are in the UK about when you can and cannot use them?
I have a feeling it is when visibility is less than 100m, though that sounds rather subjective to me since no one has a 100m tape measure they can stop the car and use to check, visibility tends to be variable depending on the terrain so might be 50m some places and 150 others. Also is this only for fog or mist, if its raining the visibility can easily be under 100m...?
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Police don't seem to bother anyone anymore, loads leave their front fogs on all the time. It used to be a pet hate of mine, but I'm mellowing.
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You have way too much time on your hands Bill!! :tongue:
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Police don't seem to bother anyone anymore, loads leave their front fogs on all the time. It used to be a pet hate of mine, but I'm mellowing.
Its still a pet hate of mine! If its not foggy/torrential rain then the fog lights shouldn't be on! :angry:
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I suppose with the proliferation of DRL's incorporated into most modern cars bumpers (be they LED or standard halogen), its difficult for plod to distinguish between the two ?
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Police don't seem to bother anyone anymore, loads leave their front fogs on all the time. It used to be a pet hate of mine, but I'm mellowing.
Its still a pet hate of mine! If its not foggy/torrential rain then the fog lights shouldn't be on! :angry:
I used to drive round flashing my front fogs at anyone that had them on, and mouthing "You've got your FOG LIGHTS ON!" :grin:
It seems popular amongst a certain demographic to drive round town at night with side lights + front fogs on.
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I used to drive round flashing my front fogs at anyone that had them on, and mouthing "You've got your FOG LIGHTS ON!" :grin:
I still do this although there are a few extra words being mouthed, namely 'f7cking' 'c0ck' and 'you'
:smiley:
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I used to drive round flashing my front fogs at anyone that had them on, and mouthing "You've got your FOG LIGHTS ON!" :grin:
It seems popular amongst a certain demographic to drive round town at night with side lights + front fogs on.
Out of curiosity, why does it matter? They want to be replacing their bulbs more frequently then let them right?
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Yes, it's 100m/328ft.
Highway Code on fog light usage:
https://www.gov.uk/driving-adverse-weather-conditions-226-to-237/fog-234-to-236
Some people don't seem to realise that it's all right to turn your fog lights on when it's foggy, but once conditions improve, you need to turn them off. Still, not nearly as annoying with people who drive around with plates with illegal spacing or non-standard fonts (which just look sad and suggest the person has far too much money and is rather vain - personally, I don't care what your name is).
Driving around with fog lights on when not needed matter because they can dazzle and confuse. You might think someone is flashing at you to let you in, but actually they're just stupid and don't know the rules of the road or how to use the controls on their car and are driving around with their fog lights on all the time. You drive out, and they crash into you.
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I used to drive round flashing my front fogs at anyone that had them on, and mouthing "You've got your FOG LIGHTS ON!" :grin:
It seems popular amongst a certain demographic to drive round town at night with side lights + front fogs on.
Out of curiosity, why does it matter? They want to be replacing their bulbs more frequently then let them right?
It just used to annoy the hell out of me as it wasn't foggy and you get the feeling they were using them to say "Hey look, I have front fog lights". I used to work with a young boy-racer who actually referred to them as driving lamps on his 1.2 Corsa when I gave him stick about them. :drool:
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Yes, it's 100m/328ft.
Cheers
Driving around with fog lights on when not needed matter because they can dazzle and confuse.
The rear fog lights yes, but not the low down front ones. I see loads of people with these on every day and they're not even as bright as the cars with DLRs. They just look the same as side lights which most cars have on all day anyway.
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Driving around with fog lights on when not needed matter because they can dazzle and confuse. You might think someone is flashing at you to let you in, but actually they're just stupid and don't know the rules of the road or how to use the controls on their car and are driving around with their fog lights on all the time. You drive out, and they crash into you.
I only put my fogs on when its foggy I must admit. I don't think... is it foggy enough to be 100m etc If its foggy or misty then I'll put them on if I feel its bad enough, rather be seen so no one hits me.
I heard that about the fog lights not being used in fog can dazzle others... Could the same mistake about someone flashing you out also be lodged with standard head lights? Driving into a dip in the road or pot hole can sometimes give that effect of the 'Flash', this I personally think is made even more confusing with cars set to auto lights, as they seem to come on alot sooner than I think they need to, so a headlight flash whilst it still light could also be confusing :)
The latest Audi Car's don't enable the dash backlight if the car thinks its too dark, as a means of making you put your lights on or into auto mode.. As a sort of safety feature... Wonder if this new GTI / GTD have that too, as I find it iritating having the lights on earlier than they need to be just so I can see the dash!
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I'm a bit of a grump on this one, and say if it's not foggy enough, leave the damn fog lights off! People used to drive around with them on just because they thought (and still think) it makes them look good...no, it makes you look a twit! DRLs and fairy lights are what they are, on all the time, so that's fine.
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It's extremely naff to drive around with them on all the time, even if the new LED ones do look nice.
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It's extremely naff to drive around with them on all the time, even if the new LED ones do look nice.
Any chance you can take a photo of them from the front with the main lights on too?
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It's extremely naff to drive around with them on all the time, even if the new LED ones do look nice.
Any chance you can take a photo of them from the front with the main lights on too?
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/joeA3/GTI/null_zpse9cd1825.jpg) (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/joeA3/media/GTI/null_zpse9cd1825.jpg.html)
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The boy racer thing is a classic - look at my car, its sporty cause I've got my fog lights on. No, you drive a piece of sh!t 1.2 car and its not foggy so you look like a c0ck.
I find its the above or old people driving at 20mph below the speed limit who have them on because its slightly spitting with rain.
Its against the law ie. the highway code so turn them off when its not foggy! :angry:
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The boy racer thing is a classic - look at my car, its sporty cause I've got my fog lights on. No, you drive a piece of sh!t 1.2 car and its not foggy so you look like a c0ck.
I find its the above or old people driving at 20mph below the speed limit who have them on because its slightly spitting with rain.
Its against the law ie. the highway code so turn them off when its not foggy! :angry:
It's amazing what things can annoy you. Slightly off topic, I used to hate (and still do) when i saw another TT with its spoiler deployed when cruising about town. Just wanted to grab the person and give them a good slap :grin:
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It's amazing what things can annoy you. Slightly off topic, I used to hate (and still do) when i saw another TT with its spoiler deployed when cruising about town. Just wanted to grab the person and give them a good slap :grin:
:grin: :grin: They should all do it our way ie. the right way!!
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It's extremely naff to drive around with them on all the time, even if the new LED ones do look nice.
Agreed, they are called fog lights for a reason.
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......I see loads of people with these on every day and they're not even as bright as the cars with DLRs. They just look the same as side lights which most cars have on all day anyway.
They might be the DRLs. A lot of the skodas use the fog lights as DRL's as does the Passat and Polo I think.
I know there was an option in VAG.COM to enable DRL on the Golfs front fog lights. Obviously its not the full power though.
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......I see loads of people with these on every day and they're not even as bright as the cars with DLRs. They just look the same as side lights which most cars have on all day anyway.
They might be the DRLs. A lot of the skodas use the fog lights as DRL's as does the Passat and Polo I think.
I know there was an option in VAG.COM to enable DRL on the Golfs front fog lights. Obviously its not the full power though.
Ah, I didn't know that. I was actually looking out for what cars were doing it when I just went to get some lunch. There were all kinds of cars with bright white LEDs where front fogs usually are but I saw 2 with the standard yellow tint lights and they were both Skoda.
If anything I find this more confusing though. If some cars use the front fogs as DRLs then that would seem to be technically breaking the law. Presumably they will just say "they aren't fog lights" which then begs the question how do you define a light as a fog light or not? If the same light can be both then you can switch the definition at will.
You say they aren't at full brightness. Do the government define a brightness level that designates a light as a fog light? I'm sure they must have a brightness range all lights must conform to but is there a separate designation for fogs? If there isn't a definition of what a fog light is, or if the definition is something vague such as "a light designed to be used in fog", then its not possible to prove that someone is using a fog light when they shouldn't be.
In any case, all the LED DRLs I saw were a lot lot brighter, so its hard to see how any fog light on the front could be considered inappropriate when other vehicles have much brighter LEDs in the same position. If one is breaking the law why is the other not? Or put another way, if DRLs are ok then there can't be anything wrong with using spots at the same or lower brightness.
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I only ever use mine when necessary but the new GTI ones look pretty awesome!!!
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx265/blaarp1/9d853cefbeffe6272e18fbd2934dc1d0_zps741b4e35.jpg)
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They do look good like, but definitely shouldn't be on unless foggy.
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When you have DRL's down in the fog light area (eg. Skoda Superb, Passat) they are a separate 21W lamp unit, not the fog light which will use a different 55W bulb in a housing next to the DRL.
Personally I've never seen the problem driving with low mounted front fog lights on, as if they are aimed properly they won't dazzle - the beam pattern has been designed not to point much light upwards, which would scatter in fog. I know it's against the law, but it does puzzle me sometimes why people get so wound up about such things.
Rear fog lights on the other hand do annoy me. So I overtake and it's not a problem anymore.
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When you have DRL's down in the fog light area (eg. Skoda Superb, Passat) they are a separate 21W lamp unit, not the fog light which will use a different 55W bulb in a housing next to the DRL.
Personally I've never seen the problem driving with low mounted front fog lights on, as if they are aimed properly they won't dazzle - the beam pattern has been designed not to point much light upwards, which would scatter in fog. I know it's against the law, but it does puzzle me sometimes why people get so wound up about such things.
Rear fog lights on the other hand do annoy me. So I overtake and it's not a problem anymore.
Front fog lights is not an issue as the lights do not dazzle at all and actually aid in seeing a car so no issue here if they are shared in some way for day time lights.
But the rear ones are just plain annoying, dangerous even, as we all know they mimic braking - I really like the MK7 fogs but I also like the MK6 the real winners for me is the Bi Xenon with cornering!! Cannot wait for these given my own lights are so shockingly bad.
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Not foggy...fog lights off
The DRL's mean't that my A4 dash was always lit, even if the main lights were off...very handy.
Now... waiting at the roundabout entrance because some muppet won't indicate..now that's worth another thread :smiley:
BTW...since that stink in the newspapers about getting fined for hogging the middle lane, less drivers doing this and therefore less congestion and quicker journey's imo