Rear fog light has ceased to work - bulb is working fine (MY95 WRX)

I suspect its the switch in the front dash, but rather than muck about I was simply going to wire into front fog light switch and replace the reverse light with a red bulb.

Is this ok for MOT which is looming ? I can then swap it onto a separate switch when I get the chance

 

If you are talking about replacing both your reversing light bulbs with red bulbs, surely they would come on red when you are reversing?!

That aside, if you are talking about having no reversing lights (using the position in the rear light clusters for fogs instead), that's a big no no. Any car manufactured during a time at which reversing lights were compulsory (e.g. 1995) must have working reversing lights. Incidentally, it sounds like you've got an auxiliary fog lamp mounted on the rear valance - if that no longer works, you have to take it off for the MOT.

If you're talking about having one reverse light and one fog light, then I'm not sure what the position is on that. There are some fairly new cars around that were only made with one reversing light so they manage to get through it OK because they were built that way.

 

Some factual errors there I'm afraid. Reversing lights have never been compulsory, they're not in the MOT at all, so whether they're fitted or not or if they work or not is irrelevant for MOT. I was going to quote the words from an on line MOT manual but it's gone from www.motuk.co.uk where I used to read it.

Lots of modern cars, I'd say the majority, only have one fog light, if so then it must be on the off side. (Which makes all Peugeots illegal as they have theirs slap in the centre). Makers often make light clusters with the fog light on the offside and reversing light on the near side in the same hole.

Personally I've become covinced one fog light is safer than a pair, particularly if they're in the same cluster as the brake lights. So many people drive round with them on in the slightest mist or light rain that there's a real risk you'll be following one of these ***** and not notice when he brakes as the fog lights mask the brake lights. If there's only one then this doesn't happen. Or of course we could learn to use them properly or we could turn them off when someone comes up behind, like you do with main beam when you catch someone up.

A red bulb in the offside reversing light and a separate wire to the fog light switch might convince the MOT man but I wouldn't think it would be bright enough. Depends how helpful the MOT man is.

 

You certainly do seem to be well read on the subject mate but are you sure that new cars have to have 3 different brake lights and a fog lamp, yet no reversing light at all?

In any case, my classic Mini has definitely failed an MOT because the after-market reversing lamps that I had previously fitted packed up on the way to the test. Being manufactured in the '70s, it didn't originally come with any so I took them off, put it straight back through a re-test and they passed it.

.....could just be a dodgy test centre I guess.

 

I'm 99% sure.

I read up on the lighting regs in the MOT manual lasty year because I sprint a Caterham and was trying to get as much weight as possible off it. For instance did you know you can get a day time MOT? You turn up and say you only use it in the day and all the rules for lights are waived, headlights, tail-lights, even brake lights for f***s sake! Then they write day time use only on the MOT and you're legal with no lights at all. Crazy.

Some info on lights here but no mention of reversing lights, guess that's evidence of some kind. Also says foglights can be central so I withdraw my comment about Peugeot.....

 

LMAO ! No, I didn't know that !