Rear fog light vigilanteism

impr0v

To amuse myself during a tiresome drive from Arklow to Mullingar this evening I decided to exact some vengence on those drivers, and there are plenty of them, who were guilty of the most ignorant of acts, namely scarifying the retina of the driver behind with their rear foglight. I bided my time, waited for an opportunity to overtake them, and then made them eat red for 5-10 miles each, spurning clear over-taking opportunities in order to continue the reeducation. Chances are of course that the particular type of driver that does this wouldn't put two and two together and notice that their rear light was on.

A guy in a dirty green Primera and an idiot in a 156 with one dead dimmed headlight both copped an eyeful, while a Punto driver had a lucky escape when they turned off just in time. The 156 was one I especially enjoyed given that they had two rear fog lights blazing the eyes out of anyone behind them. Both drivers didn't like a taste of their own medicine, dropping off a significant distance, the 156 driver eventually deciding to pull back up and blaze me out of it with headlights after 3 or 4 miles. Whether he turned his own off I obviously don't know, having had them on for the previous 15 miles.

parsi

A few weeks ago going from work I ended up behind a learner car. It was a micra and had its rear fog on. After a while I could stand it no longer so I rang the driving instructors number (as emblazoned on the side) and asked him to turn it off - his reaction was one of what are you on about (but not in so many words) and he didn't bother doing anything about it - what an example to others eh ?

As an aside - in France last week whilst motoring to Roscoff for the ferry we hit a rain shower which left prodigious amounts of surface water and thus the spray was horrendous. The interesting thing was that as soon as it happened all the drivers put on their rear fogs for much-needed visibility and took them of when drier road was reached. Over here it has to be a clear night to use foglights and most people seem to turn them off in the mist...

rymus

perhaps a loud noise being emitted inside the car when a foglight is turned on would remind the idiots to turn their foglights off when there is no actual fog, which probably equates to 95% of the time they spend on the road. I would personally undertake such a design job...

Short of that, I need to get some front foglights installed in my van to spread the foglight usage education. I used to flash oncoming fogs, but whats the point when half the time the drivers dont know how to or if their lights are on or off.

Seth Brundle

I used to flash them but they just think you are being agressive.
I once pulled up alongside a man in rush hour traffic and told him that his rear fog lights were on. He had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. I still wonder if he ever found out what I meant!
Another time (about 3 weeks ago) as I was heading outbound on the N3 approaching the M50 roundabout and again I rolled down my window and told the man that his rear fogs were on. "Go and ****e, ye prick" was his reply.

Bri

I don't see why it's not obvious the REAR fog lights are on? Unless it's a relatively new feature, all 3 cars I've had have a blinding light inside the dashboard for the back fogs - the kinda people who don't know they're on are 90% too stupid to notice you flashing or too stupid to care.

Don't get so worked up about it. I know I'm guilty of 'reeducation too' but it's just not worth it and is distracting yourself from your own careful driving

BrianD3

There was a guy in a 00 Galant in front of me on the way home tonight with his rear fogs on. I got by him asap, looked in the mirror and saw that he had also only one headlight AND it was pointing up in the air. Some people :rolleyes:

Light related matters are a major cause of annoyance once winter arrives. I think the one headlight and/or badly aligned headlight problem is the worst of all and very dangerous esp. on narrow country roads.

Also what about muppets who drive using sidelights or no lights at all in heavy fog? Are they trying get the maximum life out of their bulbs or what? :rolleyes:

BrianD3

unkel

BrianD3 wrote:

I think the one headlight and/or badly aligned headlight problem is the worst of all

Agree

mike65

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Its also a good idea to actually switch them on some time before pitch black! Why are ppl sooooooooo bad about lights? Either not on or wrong ones on.

I wonder how many here carry spare bulbs with them?. I do!

Mike.

Tiriel

rymus wrote:

perhaps a loud noise being emitted inside the car when a foglight is turned on would remind the idiots to turn their foglights off when there is no actual fog, which probably equates to 95% of the time they spend on the road. I would personally undertake such a design job...
.

I'd nearly pay you!!!

unkel

mike65 wrote:

I wonder how many here carry spare bulbs with them?. I do!

Me too, but must admit I don't have all the different ones. A lot of petrol stations (especially down the country) sell them though

As soon as ANY outside light of my car fails, the computer reports which one has failed (same with my last car which is now nearly 11 years old). If this happens to me down the country and I have none on me, I tend to try buy one at the nearest petrol station

Also carry disposable camera with me based on your tip - hope I'll never have to use it though

mike65

My idea would be a timed-switch. Most jouneys are short, most fog is patchy so I would set it so the rear fogs switched off after 10 mins and make a "beep" doing so. Then if you need then again you will be reminded to press the switch by the sound.

Mike.

ZENER

I usually educate fog light abusers by switching on my hi-beam and pulling back just enough for them to have the desired effect.

On a side note - someone above mentioned an Alfa 156. I drive one of these and unlike a lot of cars when the ignition is turned off the fogs reset to the off position so would need to be purpously turned on on restarting the car ! The front and rear fogs are on seperate switches beside the handbrake. This suggests that the driver is switching on both switches in order to get the front fogs on to look "cool" !

Also it's illegal to flash an oncoming motorist as far as I know, be carefull you're not flashing a cop car won't you !!

ZEN

unkel

mike65 wrote:

My idea would be a timed-switch. Most jouneys are short, most fog is patchy so I would set it so the rear fogs switched off after 10 mins and make a "beep" doing so. Then if you need then again you will be reminded to press the switch by the sound.

Plus a flashing LED to indicate where the button is

Tiriel

unkel wrote:

Plus a flashing LED to indicate where the button is

oh so quick!! no flashing button needed for you!!

John R

ZENER wrote:

On a side note - someone above mentioned an Alfa 156. I drive one of these and unlike a lot of cars when the ignition is turned off the fogs reset to the off position so would need to be purpously turned on on restarting the car ! The front and rear fogs are on seperate switches beside the handbrake. This suggests that the driver is switching on both switches in order to get the front fogs on to look "cool" !

ZEN

It really would be a rare problem if all fog lights reset when the ignition turned off, I would reckon at least 75% of the offenders (considering how many micras are sources of unnecessary fog light illuminations) haven't a clue what they are doing/why it is wrong/what fog lights are for.

I don't think I have ever used the fog lights in my current car (2 1/2 years) apart from a few times I used the rear ones to scare the crap out of high speed tailgaters.

Alun

mike65 wrote:

I wonder how many here carry spare bulbs with them?. I do!

I lived on "the continent" for many years, where in many cases it's the law that you should carry a complete spare set of bulbs with you (and a warning triangle and first-aid kit, but that's another thread ...).

So, when I picked up my new car the other day, I asked the salesman if I could get a spare bulb set. A look of puzzlement came over his face, and said he didn't know whether such a thing existed (!). After a bit of persuasion, he eventually came back with a small cardboard box with what appeared to be a complete set of bulbs rattling about in it, which is better than nothing I suppose. He didn't have the cheek to charge me, which is just as well as I'd just handed over €25k to him for a new car. I was expecting them all nicely arranged in a little plastic box, together with replacement fuses as I was used to, but you can't have everything I suppose ...

parsi

ZENER wrote:

.

On a side note - someone above mentioned an Alfa 156. I drive one of these and unlike a lot of cars when the ignition is turned off the fogs reset to the off position so would need to be purpously turned on on restarting the car ! The front and rear fogs are on seperate switches beside the handbrake. This suggests that the driver is switching on both switches in order to get the front fogs on to look "cool" !

My last three cars - Xsara, 307 & Scenic all reset their fog lights when the ignition was off..I do notice that 97 Fiestas have a physical on/off switch which is obscured by the steering column..

Seth Brundle

I bought a set of bulbs in halfords in Belfast many years ago. Excellent idea as you can bulbs for your particular car all packaged in a nice little case.
@unkel - my E30 (15 years old) has a check control and alerte me if a bulb goes. My 1997 E39 with all its fancy electronics doesn't tell me!

HashSlinging

This moran in a jeep had his lights blazing in my eyes lastnight on the way home, I moved the mirror but it was still blinding. Stuck on the rear fog light for about 2 mins and he got the message. I use them more as a non-lethal weapon

Alun

Another annoying aspect of many fog-light switch arrangements is that it's often impossible to put one or the other on independently. On my car (Focus C-Max) you pull the light switch out once for front fogs and again for rear fogs. On my old car, a Primera, it was a similar situation.

I personally experience many more occasions when I feel the need to use the rear fogs than front ones, so this is partiulcarly annoying. At least on the Ford, it's impossible to leave them on when you leave the car, as when you switch the lights off by rotating the switch, the fogs go off automatically.

fletch

Alun wrote:

Another annoying aspect of many fog-light switch arrangements is that it's often impossible to put one or the other on independently. On my car (Focus C-Max) you pull the light switch out once for front fogs and again for rear fogs.

My Dad has a Mondeo & it's the same switch....it's all 2 easy to pull the switch out to turn on the front fogs but end up pulling it all the way & turning them both on.

mike65

On my car the arrangment is turn on sidelights pull for front fogs, turn again for headlights pull again for rear fogs (and fronts ones stary on of course!) That way the rear fogs cant be activated until it really is foggy and you have main lights on.

Mike.

Blitzkrieger

Carrying spare lights around with you is a bit anal isn't it? I have a handfull of fuses in case all my lights go but there's really no need to carry bulbs for safety's sake considering how many lights most cars have nowadays. I don't know about buying them at any petrol station though. Most of the 'country' ones would have them but a lot of the city centre supermarket type places wouldn't.

Alun

Blitzkrieger wrote:

Carrying spare lights around with you is a bit anal isn't it? I have a handfull of fuses in case all my lights go but there's really no need to carry bulbs for safety's sake considering how many lights most cars have nowadays. I don't know about buying them at any petrol station though. Most of the 'country' ones would have them but a lot of the city centre supermarket type places wouldn't.

Like I said, it was a habit I got into when I was living in countries where it was the law to do so, and a sensible one too in my opinion. What, for example if a headlight blows while you're travelling down a badly lit back road in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night? Oh, sorry, of course, you put your front fog lights on, how silly of me

Anyway, if you got stopped there by the cops for a broken light and didn't have spares with you, you'd get done, simple. Maybe if more Irish drivers were a bit more 'anal', as you put it, about other aspects of safe, sensible and legal motoring we'd not be in the mess we're in now.

joolsveer

I always carried spare bulbs too because of driving on the "mainland" (the continent) but my french car does not allow me to relace the bulbs. See my separate post in this forum. I never considered it anal though.

unkel

John R wrote:

apart from a few times I used the rear ones to scare the crap out of high speed tailgaters.

Not really something to be proud of...

kbannon wrote:

@unkel - my E30 (15 years old) has a check control and alerte me if a bulb goes. My 1997 E39 with all its fancy electronics doesn't tell me!

Huh? :eek: No warnings for failed bulbs, open doors/boot, etc.? Is that normal on all E39's?

John R

unkel wrote:

Not really something to be proud of...

Not really a matter of pride, more a case of self preservation. I generally drive quite fast, anyone tailgating me is a serious danger to themselves, other road users and most importantly me. A quick dab of rear fogs is the best and safest way to get them to back off. A brake test is probably more effective but rather risky.

unkel

Why don't you just move into the normal lane at the first opportunity to do so safely? If the tailgater freaks when you switch on your rear fog light, who knows what's going to happen? He might lose control and hit other cars or cause an obstruction to oncoming traffic

John R wrote:

I generally drive quite fast

It is for your own benefit if everybody sticks to above method. The average speed of all motorway users will increase. Ever try driving on a motorway on the continent?

John R

unkel wrote:

Why don't you just move into the normal lane at the first opportunity to do so safely? If the tailgater freaks when you switch on your rear fog light, who knows what's going to happen? He might lose control and hit other cars or cause an obstruction to oncoming traffic



It is for your own benefit if everybody sticks to above method. The average speed of all motorway users will increase. Ever try driving on a motorway on the continent?

Where did I mention anything about motorways or dual carriageways?

unkel

Fair enough, you didn't. Tailgating is most common on motorways/duallers though. I'm trying to get into the mindset of a tailgater here

He wants me out of the way for sure. On a dualler that means he is telling me to fook off into the normal lane to let him pass

On a single carriageway the only reason I would imagine him tailgating me is if he would reckon I could move into the hard shoulder to let him pass. Not very clever thinking of the tailgater, as the closer he is to me, the less vision he has over oncoming traffic. He also wouldn't have any space to start accelerating in our lane, which would increase the duration of his overtaking procedure

Seth Brundle

unkel wrote:

Huh? :eek: No warnings for failed bulbs, open doors/boot, etc.? Is that normal on all E39's?

unfortunatley it doesn't unless you have the OBC which I & most E39s don't!