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Headlights law (in the future) ?


Deimos
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If there was an emoticon for rolling eyes, it'd be HERE!

I find headlights on in daylight, especially in brighter conditions, incredibly distracting, about on a par with front foglights and rear foglights when there is no fog.

The worst HAS to be rear fogs in the rain, though, and what are governemnts doing about that? Nothing.

Spongebob

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What is wrong with using fog lights in the rain?  What do you suggest is used in heavy rain with lots of spray masking not just ordinary lights but often the car as well, I can't see the difference bewtween poor visibility caused by fog and that of spray, I always use rear fogs in rain on Auto routes. as do many other drivers.
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[quote user="Spongebob"]

OK, but don't blame anyone else if you cause an accident due to dazzling drivers behind you, or someone mistaking your fogs for brake lights and braking and losing control, etc etc.

FOG lights are for use in FOG;)

Spongebob

[/quote]

I would imagine that is why they are so called.

It practically blinds me to be behind someone who has these lights on outside these conditions.

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I don't know if it's still the case, but the Highway Code used to say that foglights - front and rear - were for use when visibility was 100 yards (metres?) or less.  Not sure if it stipulated that the cause of poor visibility had to be fog.  When there's a lot of spray on motorways the effect can be very similar to heavy fog.  I agree that their use when there's good visibility can be very distracting.

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[quote user="Spongebob"]

OK, but don't blame anyone else if you cause an accident due to dazzling drivers behind you, or someone mistaking your fogs for brake lights and braking and losing control, etc etc.

FOG lights are for use in FOG;)

Spongebob

[/quote]

 

In your opinion????

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As the Highway code has been quoted here, I thought that it also says that dipped headlights must be used in reduced visibility. How come so many Brit drivers drive on side lights then? The proper name for them is parking lights. By switching them on you are admitting reduced visibility so you should have dipped lights on. Many people still believe that it wastes the battery, but on a modern car (since the 1980s) the battery does nothing but start the car and the alternater supplies the power for the headlights.

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Weren't these lights originally called high-intensity rear lights for use in fog, heavy snowfalls, rain and spray conditions?

It's only in modern usage that they've come to be called fog lights but this shouldn't restrict their use only to foggy conditions.

Benjamin

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Quite.

Isn't all the evidence that dipped lights (or running lights) at all times reduces accidents, no matter what Alcazar thinks?

My question is whether or not French bikers will start protesting again as they did when France experimented with daytime lights. Apparently lights make life safer for them, but they don't want that for car drivers - I lost the plot of their argument about there.

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It was something about people only recognising a motorbike by the fact it had its headlight(s) on.  If cars also had them on in daylight then people would think cars were bikes.  Or would not take notice of headlights any more and so would notice neither cars nor bikes.  Or something equally illogical but good for a protest and a bit of a march with banners. 

[:)]

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The biker's objection to the use of daytime running lights for cars is purely self centred.  Car drivers are generally well protected in the event of an accident.  We bikers just die.

PS:

Code de la route Art R.416-7  Use of fog lamps.

In case of fog, falling snow or heavy rain, front foglights may be used to replace or complement dipped headlights. They can also be used to complement main headlamps outside built up areas and on twisty roads, but they must not dazzle other road users.

Rear fog lights can only be used in the case of fog or falling snow.

Failure to comply is a class four offence (135 euro fixed fine).

 

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So that's a no to rear fogs in heavy spray, according to the Code de la Route.

Still not sure what the objection to daylight running lights for cars was, though personally I can see a car in broad daylight without the need for its headlights.

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[quote user="Spongebob"]

The worst HAS to be rear fogs in the rain, though, and what are governemnts doing about that? Nothing.

Spongebob

[/quote]

The "worst" is high intensity rear lights left on at night, in the rain, in town.   People who drive like this should face peremptory loss of licence.

Patrick

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Why 4X4s? Just because you have not got one. I could say the same about Volvos, or Fords. My 4X4 uses less fuel than my mates Renault Twingo and so pollutes less. I can also get out when it snows, in Feb I was snowed in for 3 days! I think that people should have the choice to drive whatever sort of car they want to. European legislation covers the maximum height above the ground that headlights should be, so one would assume that all vehicles sold here are within limits.

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[quote user="Ron Avery"][quote user="Spongebob"]

OK, but don't blame anyone else if you cause an accident due to dazzling drivers behind you, or someone mistaking your fogs for brake lights and braking and losing control, etc etc.

FOG lights are for use in FOG;)

Spongebob

[/quote]

 

In your opinion????

[/quote]

Code de la route Art R.416-7  Use of fog lamps.

In case of fog, falling snow or heavy rain, front foglights may be used to replace or complement dipped headlights. They can also be used to complement main headlamps outside built up areas and on twisty roads, but they must not dazzle other road users.

Rear fog lights can only be used in the case of fog or falling snow.

Failure to comply is a class four offence (135 euro fixed fine).

Yep, in my (correct) opinion[:P]

Spongebob

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Funny, I always drive with side lights on. Never an issue here in Aude with other local drivers, but out of department drivers often flash me. I must admit I hate drivers who use there fog lights. I can say I've only used them a few times in my years of driving. Most times they are not needed.
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