mwp

SIAL i know ... but ...

how do people drive as fast as they do ... am i just blind ?

best one tonight was a fiesta 2foot from the back of a transit at about 70-80mph ... maybe it was a p*key video for YBF

cool

unclebuck

It's gonna be foggy as **** tomorrow morning and I have to drive 160 miles to Derby.

Not looking forward to it....

UB

jaf01uk

I had a post on another thread about this very thing, we dont get too much in the way of fog up here but I have driven in pea soupers on the motorway and it is madness!! I'm crawling along at 30 - 40 in lane 1 with my eyeballs stuck to the back of my glasses trying to see and these lunatics in rep mobiles and white vans hammering past in lane 3 at 80 plus!!?? Do they think they are immune cos no one ever breaks down or has an accident in the FAST lane?? Yeah right!! When I am struggling to see the end of the bonnet cos of fog fear makes me slow down, am I abnormal?

magepaster

iTrader: (2)

How they do it is by having no connection between right foot and brain. Why they do it is because the lack of connection between right foot and brain is because there is no brain.

lmsbman

What really amazes me, is dic*heads who drive along with only their side lights on in thick fog. They're about as much use as a solar powered torch. You might be able to see me, but I can't see you.
I guess they must think that using headlights will increase their electricity bill![img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

carl

OTOH, the way to use front-facing fog lamps (proper ones, not the damp squibs you get on Scoobs) is to have fog lamps+sidelights on, i.e. no dipped/main beams.

jaf01uk

Not just in fog either, was up town the other day and the car in front AND the car behind had no lights on! Think it is the same reason as the sidelights in fog thing above - certain cars dash lights up even without the lights on, and because the dash is lit up they think their lights are on.

Radical idea I've had for ages now - NO car should be able to use anything less than dipped beam when the engine is running, when the engine is switched off these would drop down to side lights, after all a few years ago most cars had a dim dip sidelight which had a beam where now they are just 5 watt bulbs, be as well taping a mag light to the bonnet!!

jaf01uk

The trouble with that is visibility with proper fog lamps is about 20 feet and all light to the sides, so although other people would see you, you wouldnt be able to see where you were going
PS you wrote that while I was composing the last post

carl

Yes, but the point of foglamps is that (unlike headlamps) they don't light up a massive sheet of white fog in front of you. If you have headlamps+foglamps you have no advantage.

I don't see how foglamps+sidelights is any worse than headlamps+sidelights as far as being seen is concerned -- the fog scatters the light all over the place anyway so there's no concept of a focused beam.

lmsbman

Fog lamps are useful in a real pea-souper when your travelling at less than 20mph. The forward beam of most fog lights is no more than 15 metres. When you consider that 33mph equates to 15 metres per second that only gives a second to react, steer or brake to avoid a collision. Not even Michael Schumacher could do that!

beemerboy

I just stick me 6 front lights on and hovver 25mm from the car in front, in true BMW fashion

i like the fog...

BB

adpd

PMSL

dsmith

Exactly.

Front Fog lights are only useful in really really thick fog - when even dipped beam just blinds you because of the reflected light. If i'm honest I can remember about 2 occasions in the last 2 years.

People stick them on for light mist - duh ! - not helping you is it and its not helping me see you anymore than with your dipped lights [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Deano

Dracoro

Foglights are designed so that OTHER people can SEE YOU, NOT so you can see better. They may light up a little bit of the road in thick fog but that's about it.

Duck_Pond

The other thing that annoys me in foggy conditions is the rear fog lights. Why don't people turn them off when they're in traffic jams? They're blinding.

As for tailgaters in any conditions, let alone those like this morning... imbeciles. A Golf GTi this morning, weaving and tailgating cars (including me) to get on his way down the M40. I moved into the inside lane, as (like normal) it was quieter than the other 2 lanes. When I got off the motorway after about 10 miles, the cretin in the Golf was still only about 300 yards up the road, still too close to the car in front.

SiDHEaD

Duck_Pond: They do turn them off after I've had my driving lights burning the back of the car off

Andy

lmsbman

Well you don't want to wear the switch out do you. Turn em on in October and switch em off in May!!!!!!!!!!!

carl

No, that's what rear fog lights are for, because they're 21W rather than the 2x5W of the tail lights. How do front fog lights make you more visibile than the 2x55W of the headlights?

dsmith

Front fog lights are nothing of the sort. The Light Placement (low), beam pattern ect are all designed (and regulated) to provide a very low wide beam pattern to reduce reflection from Fog to aid the drivers visibilty in very bad fog - hence why they (and they alone) can be used with sidelights only.

There is no element in their design (or the regulations) that would make them more visible to other road users than standard dipped beams. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Deano

carl

Exactly. There are so few situations in which front fog lights would actually be useful that I can't see why so many manufacturers fit them. Surely fitting driving lights as standard would be more appropriate?

MattN

carl, front fogs add 50bhp that's why most sports cars have them!

MattN

and switching them on in non foggy weather adds another 10bhp.

Damn, missed the corner.

MattN

and switching them on in non foggy weather adds another 10bhp.

Damn, missed the corner.

Dapster

The idiots who use just sidelights p1ss me off more than those who use no lights at all. We can forgive someone who simply hasn't remembered to put their lights on (esp. if they have permanent dash lights as mentioned and assume their lights ARE on) but for someone to drive in heavy fog, and think "oh, must put my lights on" and actually take an active decision that side lights suffice - jeez!! What are these people on!

My actions to be fitted to all cars for a better world...

1) "Lights on" warning light
2) Headlight/foglight switch like on a VW Golf that makes it impossible to leave your fogs on when you turn the main lights off
3) No sidelight position when engine running
4) Mandatory dipped beams for driving on m'way at all times
5) No-questions asked pardon from Her Majesty for giving any violators a slap at the first set of traffic lights

Dr Nick

Im just glad that the motorway signs tell you its foggy!

F**k me I wouldn't have noticed this morning!

Maybe we could have some other useful signs like "Day" for during the day or "Road" with a little arrow pointing to where you're supposed to drive!

lmsbman

I stopped one ******** on the motorway for not having any lights on in poor visibility. Any ideas what his excuse was........
















"THE FOG SIGNS AREN'T ON, SO I DIDN'T THINK I NEEDED ANY"

Some people haven't got the brains they were born with!!!!!!

Dr Nick

Thats my point exactly.

If you tell people every little thing, some will lose the ability to think for themselves.

dsmith

You clearly havent seen "proper" fog. When its so thick any light just reflects straight back at you. When you have to use side lights and front fogs as they're designed. Typically you;ll be driving at 5 mph with vis of about 3m

I'm not for one moment excusing numpties driving on sidelights & foglights in daylight in the light mist we've been having the last few days front Fogs have a low wide beam pattern and can be used with sidelights only for a very valid reason. It just a cracking shame that 99.9% of driver are so ****ing clueless [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] about how and why their lights are configured the way they are.

Deano