People who drive with fog lights on clear days should have points added

[DyslexicScientist]

Its really dangerous, it dazzels me and I have to twist my mirrors to get rid of it. I had to pull in twice this morning somewhere safe to let these drivers overtake me.

It would be a real money spinner for the gov if they did it as a lot of people do this.

And those who use them on busy, rush hour motorways even when it is foggy. 30 miles on the motorway a few weeks ago nearly gave me a pair of burnt retinas squinting at fog lights to try and work out when people were braking.

You never make a driving mistake?

They can be prosecuted for driving without reasonable consideration for other road users.

But never are. There are not enough police officers to do this

I agree with you OP. People put their fog lights (and indeed normal lights) on when they are not needed and it is really dangerous. Although the EU decided that we all need our lights on all the time for some reason. Even in sunny weather. My car is older so I can choose when to put my lights on, but I think all new cars have daylight running lights that are automatic?

Also, if you are following someone along an unlit road. DO NOT TAILGATE AND PUT ON YOUR HIGH BEAM! I will not go faster, and I do not need your lights in my rear view mirror. If I am in front of you, you do not need your high beam on. Why do people do this? It's hard enough dealing with the glare from oncoming cars, I don't need it coming from behind as well.

And if you are the lead car and have your high beam on, for goodness sake turn it off when you see a car coming towards you (ie their lights coming round the corner).

Lights etiquette is terrible.

I've seen so many people recently driving around with fog lights on in the middle of the (not-foggy-at-all) day. I have come to the conclusion that there just must be a lot of really stupid people around who don't know how their cars work.

If they're behind ypu just flick your rearview mirror to the tilted position and back again when they're gone.

And who is going to police this ground-breaking idea of yours OP?

Nobody - that's who and do you know why? Because it's a whiny ridiculous idea borne of boredom and the desire to see your name in lights. I preferred the soup threads myself.

Wow, who pissed on your cornflakes, Two?

It is incredibly frustrating. I think people must have turned them on at some point then forgot to turn them off. (In my car its a separate setting and dial from the main lights, so perfectly possible to forget about them.)

I live in the country so also find people inability to turn off full beam very distracting and frankly quite dangerous. Not to mention those who's headlights are out on one side and the other is dazzling. I have no idea what sort of vehicle it is and how wide it is. Crucial information if I am to make space for them at a passing place.

I know people prosecuted for it.
It's something I see rarely now cars have running lights.
But it used to be the sign of 'da youfff' about 15/20 years ago.

I'd rather people used their fog lights rather than headlights to be honest! All these new cars driving around in the day dazzling you with their headlights gives me a headache whereas the fog lights are much lower down and rarely get in my eyes.

i'm with you OP - i think i should be allowed to shoot them out (the lights I mean)

like pp say - what is the point of fog lights if you can actually see the cars in front of you on the motorway etc, then as a basic rule of thumb, you dont need a sodding fog light on!!

DyslexicScientist

I can't get worked up about fog lights. I don't get dazzled easily, so that might lead to not giving fucks. They're just lights, someone forgot to turn them off or thinks they look cool, whatever.

TwoSmellyDogs well that was a particularly dickish response. Dying to see the amazing thread you come up with.

The new 'breed' of lights are more dazzling aren't they. I often have to shield my eyes from them.

it is an offence and can be given a fixed penalty notice ie fine and points however you actually need a police car to spot and be in a position to stop and fine the driver. The problem is though that when the police do start going after motorists they get accused of going after the soft target and should be concentrating on more serious crimes instead.

Thanks unicorn! That was the whole point of this thread

Yes I agree the new generation are particularly bright. I thought the idea with the eyebrow day lights was to make them super bright so they are visible on really sunny days, but for them to always be off if the main lights were on, often the eyebrow and the main lights are on together. 4x4s with ultra bright lights and flog lights on are the worst as they are that bit higher.

I swear it causes some kind of retina burn that lasts hours. It can't be safe having to constantly flip my mirrors and carry on driving.

I'm finding this a lot at the moment, I ride a motorbike and it's especially bad when drivers have high beam on and don't dip the lights when its raining. It means that all the rain on my visor is illuminated by their lights and my vision is covered in lots of glowing white dots.

Even if its not raining if the lights are really bright it makes it virtually impossible for me to see where I'm going and I end up having to slow down because I can't see the road in front of me if there's a bend etc and I'm worried I'm going to crash.

The drivers that have high beam on behind me also really get on my nerves. Sometimes I'll put a hand up to shield my eyes from the reflections and they get what they're doing and back off but more often they don't. Most cars headlights are more powerful than mine so when their lights are shining behind me it seems to make mine less effective if you see what I mean. Light etiquette at the moment seems to be almost non existant where I am!

YANBU about fog lights. But whoever said it about normal lights, total YABU. It's far safer to have lights on all the time. If only to stop dickheads driving around in gloomy foggy wet weather in silver grey cars and you can;t see them properly at all.
Lights prevent accidents.

I hate driving in front of Nissan Dukes with all 6 lights dazzling into my car. I'm wondering if all the lights come on automatically? I drive an old(ish) car so not sure of new car technology.

I drive a car with daytime running lights and they go on automatically and there's no way I can shut them off. Personally I think they are way too bright and it means I have to deal with drivers who are particularly aggressive because they think I am dazzling them. It's a nightmare.

I've started putting my full beams on when other drivers going the other way have theirs on. I used to dip them when cars were coming towards me but they didn't dip theirs and would make it impossible to see. I've found if I keep them on my lights overtake their lights the fuckers.

I was wondering the other day if my car was the only model which includes lights on the dashboard to tell you your for lights are on.

I find some cars' normal lights blinding, especially the new blueish lights that seem to be about 3000 watts.

My car has DRLs but they are little slivers (Citreon C3). I like that feature, especially since it's a black car and I drive on country roads.

I hate when I'm sitting in traffic and the person behind me has strong lights which shine right on all the mirrors. I have to twist them all away so I'm not dazzled.

Couple of things with glasses you can get a coating that filters the blue lights but also with regard to people behind you with dazzling light - mirrors have a function to flick it down - if you flick it down you can still see what is behind you but the lights are dimmed so less intrusive.