RANT THREAD

Something which is of great annoyance to a lot of people, including me, is when people sit
in stationary traffic with their foot on the brake. Especially at night, more so when raining.

Now I am one of the guilty ones, as in common with a lot of vehicles, my car has the “stop start”
technology. So when you put your foot on the brake, the engine stops.

At night I often try to avoid using this feature by selecting neutral and using hand brake.
I still get blinded by the car in front. 🙁

I was under the impression that visibility had to be down to less than 400m before using rear fog lights ?

Something like that. How you would monitor 400m in spray defeats me totally.

As with everything driving (and flying) related you just have to rely on your judgement. Some I fear are a little lacking in that, like Charlie’s Micra friend.

Moggy

Ah yes interpretation of the conditions!! I followed an aged Micra barely reaching 10mph ( not kph in the UK) yesterday in 200 – 300 yard visibility!!:)

I was under the impression that visibility had to be down to less than 400m before using rear fog lights ?

I don’t think I’ve ever used my front fog lights, on this or my previous car. When I tried them, they were
of so little benefit that I turned them off again.

Best spot and fog lights I ever had, were on my first car back around 1968. A pair of go faster quartz iodine lights
on my Austin A40. Now those light were very bright indeed. !

In anything but the heaviest fog using fog lights (assuming they are properly fitted) only illuminates the road and kerb in close proximity to your vehicle. Assuming you are doing 30 mph or so they will at best show you what it is you are going to hit. Remember your stopping distance at this speed is around 80ft – actually more because the chances are the road will be wet. If you didn’t spot whatever it is you are going to hit with your dipped headlights then the fog lights bring nothing to the party.

In very thick fog, the back scatter from your dipped headlights will do more to blind you than help you. This is when the extreme cut-off of your foglights mean you have sufficient illumination close up to see the kerb and/or white line. I am talking of the sort of fog when your road speed is down to 5mph or thereabouts.

I think your concept of dense fog differs from mine. You drove hundreds of Km in what you think is ‘dense fog’. At 5 mph (That’s less than 10kph) that would have taken all of the night and then some. (That’s less than 10kph).

Moggy

@Moggy, the fact that a rule can apparently be interpreted two ways does rather suggest that things are perhaps not as cut and dried as you intimate.

Having driven a couple of hundred km’s in dense fog yesterday night I can say that driving with fog lights and dipped headlights was just fine.
Much improved visibility with the fog lights on compared to just dipped, having main beams on was foolish to say the least, but it didn’t stop some people.

That’s what I was jokingly referring to in my last sentence by the use of the word electricity……!:)

Brilliant, Moggy. One of my great motoring bugbears and you have neatly dealt correctly with every permutation.

The only drivers you omitted to mention were those driving in poor to bad visibility with either no lights on or only parking lights on. To save electricity I suppose!!;)……

I have been told some people don’t put on their lights (they think) to save the battery!

It rather depends how you interpret the phrase “You may also use front or rear fog lights”

You seem to be reading ‘also’ as meaning ‘in addition’ rather than ‘as an alternative’

Maybe you can explain what benefit the use of front fog lights brings to you, and/or to other road users, when used in conjunction with dipped headlights?

Moggy

Good rant Moggy, drivers leaving fog lights on when not necessary is a particular bug bear of mine as is drivers who cannot seem to understand that bad weather, irrespective of whether it is actually “dark” or not, should involve lights being on.
However…
Turning main headlights (dipped) off when using fog lights? Really? Main beams are useless but dipped can’t agree that they should be off. Indeed here’s what the Highway Code and the AA have to say:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/driving-in-adverse-weather-conditions-226-to-237
Overview (rule 226)
Rule 226
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 236).
Law RVLR regs 25 & 27
Fog (rules 234 to 236)
Rule 234
Before entering fog check your mirrors then slow down. If the word ‘Fog’ is shown on a roadside signal but the road is clear, be prepared for a bank of fog or drifting patchy fog ahead. Even if it seems to be clearing, you can suddenly find yourself in thick fog.
Rule 235
When driving in fog you should
•use your lights as required (see Rule 226)
•keep a safe distance behind the vehicle in front. Rear lights can give a false sense of security
•be able to pull up well within the distance you can see clearly. This is particularly important on motorways and dual carriageways, as vehicles are travelling faster
•use your windscreen wipers and demisters
•beware of other drivers not using headlights
•not accelerate to get away from a vehicle which is too close behind you
•check your mirrors before you slow down. Then use your brakes so that your brake lights warn drivers behind you that you are slowing down
•stop in the correct position at a junction with limited visibility and listen for traffic. When you are sure it is safe to emerge, do so positively and do not hesitate in a position that puts you directly in the path of approaching vehicles.
Rule 236
You MUST NOT use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226) 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

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/seasonal/driving-in-fog.html
AA advice
Use dipped headlights at all times along with wipers and demisters.
Familiarise yourself with your front and rear fog lights – know how to switch them on and off – and use them when appropriate.
Don’t rely on automatic lights – they may not come on in fog
Beware of other drivers not using headlights.
Don’t rely on Daytime Running Lights alone – they only light the front
Only drive as fast as conditions allow and maintain a greater distance between you and the car in front. Follow a three-second rule.
Tailing someone’s rear lights can give a false sense of security and is dangerous.
If the road has street lights on, then you probably don’t need your fog lights on.
Be able to stop within the distance you can see clearly – this is particularly important on motorways and dual carriageways, as vehicles are travelling faster.
Don’t accelerate to get away from a vehicle that is too close behind you.
Check your mirrors before you slow down.
At a junction with limited visibility, stop, wind down the window, and listen for traffic. When you are sure it is safe to emerge, do so positively and do not hesitate in a position that puts you directly in the path of approaching vehicles.

Brilliant, Moggy. One of my great motoring bugbears and you have neatly dealt correctly with every permutation.

The only drivers you omitted to mention were those driving in poor to bad visibility with either no lights on or only parking lights on. To save electricity I suppose!!;)……

Now may I have a brief rant about

Fog Lights

I’ve been out and about this morning and there is some light to medium thick fog in the area.

The VAST majority of drivers have no idea how to use the fog lights with which their car comes equipped.

So let’s look at the annoyances.

1) Most cars above base model these days come equipped with front fog lights as well as rear high intensity lights. Having front fog lights on your car does not make it special. If you drive around with your front fog lights on other than in fog you do not look cool or sporty. You look like a cretin who is driving around with their front fog lights on unnecessarily.

2) If you want to use your front fog lights in fog (and it has to be really really dense before they are any benefit) you need to switch your headlights off. Not dipped, OFF.

3) If you drive with front fog lights and headlights on you look like a cretin who is driving around with too many lights on.

4) If you drive around in daytime fog with front fog lights on INSTEAD of dipped headlights it won’t help you much, but it might be a marginal benefit to oncoming drivers in cutting down glare a little. Good call. It also justifies having them on your car and gives you a chance to use them them without looking like a cretin etc…

5) It might be a good idea once in a while to check if both of your front fog lights still work before attempting to use them. From observation about 25% have one that is inoperative. Mildly embarassing in most cases, could be highly dangerous if you ever actually NEED to use them in anger.

6) If you drive in night-time fog (other than when it is really dense) with your front fog lights on AS WELL as your headlights it won’t help you at all, but it might be a marginal issue for oncoming drivers in adding glare.

7) If you drive in night-time fog that is really dense with your front fog lights on AS WELL as your headlights you are making life more difficult for youself and it WILL be an issue for oncoming drivers in adding glare.

8) So the simple rule is, if in doubt, don’t use your front fog lights unless it is really dense in which case switch off your main/dipped beams.

9) Rearward facing high-intensity lights may be called ‘fog lights’ but you don’t have to put them on if the fog is light, and you don’t have to leave them on because somewhere else in the journey you once saw fog. There is an off switch, when they are no longer needed you can switch them off.

10) There is rarely, other than in the very densest fog, any need to have them on in town. All you do is dazzle the guy in traffic behind you. In very dense fog it is a good idea as the guy behind you may drop back so as to avoid the glare which can be very beneficial to the design of your rear bumper. You don’t need to leave them on because earlier in the journey you were in a rural area and there was fog there.

11) Rear high-intensity lights are even more useful in daylight fog than in night-time fog.

12) Rear high intensity lights are VERY useful on motorways in very heavy rain where the HGVs are kicking up loads of spray, But once it eases, or you are clear of the HGVs you CAN switch them off. They will come on again next time you need them.

12a – supplementary) God, or your car manufacturer, gave you a parking brake for a reason. You can use it in traffic when stopped to prevent your car from rolling backwards or forwards with the added benefit that you will appear to be a considerate road user for the poor sod behind you. This applies particularly at night when the poor sod’s night vision might come in handy shortly thereafter.

Rant over.

Moggy

WHEELED CASES!

Thought you were referring to people in wheel chairs, just for a moment…

Revert to student mode – knapsack on your back!!;)

You see normal-sized, apparently strong and healthy males dragging along behind them something the size of an anorexic shoe box. Come to steps or escalators and they have to stop (regardless of those behind them) and retract the handle and pick up the bloody thing, reversing the process at the top/bottom with consequent inconvenience to all but themselves.

Then you get the situation where people have a large wheeled case, which they are unable to carry.
Expecting others to come to their rescue

Ah, thank you ~Alan~

WHEELED CASES!

These were a bright idea. A pair of wheels attached to one corner of huge cases that were both clumsy and heavy to carry by their handle. A boon to the traveller headed for the docks with a month’s worth of clothing and necessities.

But what has happened now?

You see normal-sized, apparently strong and healthy males dragging along behind them something the size of an annorexic shoe box. Come to steps or escalators and they have to stop (regardless of those behind them) and retract the handle and pick up the bloody thing, reversing the process at the top/bottom with consequent inconvenience to all but themselves.

Are we breeding a race of wimps?

And now we have the four-wheel version. If anything these are worse as the owners wander along with the case alongside them, effectively more than doubling the amount of pavement / corridor they are occupying. The also seem to need to be walked more slowly than the drag-behind version. The streets of London at the weekend were a nightmare.

For heavens sake, your average carry-on is restricted to around 10 kilos or less. There can be hardly anyone under the age of seventy who couldn’t cope perfectly adequately with that on a shoulder strap, with the added advantage of leaving both hands free to rumage for passports and boarding passes.

Just carry the bloody things!

Moggy 😡

Yup, very true Chas, kinda puts one off women, although we must must not Tarr them all with the same brush.

Jim
Lincoln .7

I had Linc’s ex-wife in mind………;)

Hope for your sake your wife doesn’t read this forum !

Anger is vented in many ways and a public rant is one of them. Another is to scream at your wife!!;);)