Are other drivers trying to tell me something? Am I being really thick?!

[MindYours]

When driving at night if nobody is in front of me or coming the other way I put the full beams on (country lanes) but if there are any cars behind me they nearly ALWAYS flash at me as if I've pissed them off or something. Obviously I turn off the beams straight away...

Full beams don't affect drivers behind do they? Am I missing something here?!

[MindYours]

@BrownStripePJ it hasn't happened since thankfully, but I do tend not to use them now if cars are behind me unless I really have to!

[BrownStripePJ]

Did you ever get to the bottom of this @MindYours ? Was it an issue with your rear lights etc?

I had the exact same thing happen to me this week and remembered this thread.

Never happened to me before ( I use this road daily, and have used full beam on it before too)

it was a definitely flash of their lights behind me (not bumps in the road)

[NeedAnExpert]

It definitely appears as though approaching cars are flashing me, in order to let me out. Very fortunately I realised just in time that it is due to a fault in the road surface!!!

You should never interpret flashing as letting you out anyway. It should only ever be used to let you know they are there.

[Clappingforjoy]

Probably going too slow I am not good at night driving and get this

[msmum007]

If I thought that cars were flashing me, I’d check all of my car lights, to be on the safe side. It is worth doing every so often, just in case. I check all of your lights and light combinations with a friend stood behind your parked car where they can see all of the lights to check if there are any electrical faults, lights that are not working or lights that are working infrequently. Also check the inside of your car boot to see if there are any loose electrical wiring. Or possibly wiring that is being infrequently knocked by the contents of your boot(shopping/presents) that is in turn causing infrequent rear lighting. I would also check my car fuses, usually placed under and to the side of your steering wheel, to see if there are any loose/broken fuses that may cause infrequent/no lighting.

There is one other thing that I’d definitely check out though, having been nearly caught out myself. There is a T junction near me, that when cars are approaching me, whilst I am waiting. It definitely appears as though approaching cars are flashing me, in order to let me out. Very fortunately I realised just in time that it is due to a fault in the road surface!!!
They are definitely not flashing! That may well be the case for you too!

One final thought, especially as this time of year when everyone is so busy rushing around🙄😉. Are you driving slowly, and cars behind you are getting impatient? If so, I’d just pull over and let them pass. Just be careful though if you’re driving down a lonely quiet country though!

Personally, these days due to a personal incident, I drive all the time without fail, with all of my car doors locked.

[Gotthetshirt23]

Have had a car behind twice recently , full lights on behind me apart from when a car was travelling towards them .
Quiet rural roads so large part of journey with full lights behind me .

[ReceptacleForTheRespectable]

It's about visibility, not the reason for it. Lack of visibility could be caused by rain, fog, smoke from a fire near the motoway etc.

If you can see less than 100m, you should be using fog lights.

[PaquitaVariation]

Every car on the M62 in the torrential rain yesterday evening had their rear fog lights on, including the police cars. Visibility was way less than 100m.

[Hingeandbracket]

The RAC advice is wrong
No it isn’t

[Backtoreality1]

It could be that they are putting their full beams up to see the road in front of them but then realising they are too close to you. I have done that before.

[Notodontidae]

Visibility is a judgement call, fog sits in pockets along a journey and as soon as the visibility is reduced to a 100m or less they should be on. This goes for rare episodes of torrential rain, but must be turned off immediately it changes to general rain. It is illegal to have fog lights on when the visibility is clear. Some cars with day-running lights, do not illuminate the rear lights, so care must be taken to ensure the switch is correct for night driving.

[BlaueLagune]

The RAC advice is wrong. As I said above, and others have also said, spray on a motorway makes it almost impossible to see. A fog light could save someone from rear-ending you.

And the Highway Code doesn't say it's illegal or unlawful.

[cyclingmad]

I know they aren't rain lights but when there is toreential rain and spray reducing visiblity down to mere feet and you cannot see vehicles in front of you or behind its fat better to turn that flog light on so people can see your vehicle.

Trust me on that day rear lights were high on impossible to pick up. There were plenty of others using fog lights that day and it was senisble to do so. As soon as we passed through to lighter rain I immediately turned it off.

There were people driving without zero lights on, no front lights meant no rear lights it was absolutely nuts to be driving like that, completely invisible. Even reducing speed down to 50 on the motorway because of such poor visiblity and all a sudden a car would become visible with very little braking distance to stop if you had to.

[Slightaggrandising]

If you can see the car behind you, turn yo it fog lights off FFS. They're the rear end equivalent of full beam.

[ForalltheSaints]

Are not the cars behind you just impatient 'friends of Jeremy Clarkson'?

[Lifeinaplasticbox]

I think the clues in the name. They aren’t rain lights.

[cyclingmad]

I'd slightly disagree about fog lights and rain. Having been up and down motorways alot in torrential rain with spray being kicked up into the air and visiblity severely impacted, I have put my fog light on because i'd rather someone actually be able to see that there is vehicle ahead then find out too late.

Clearly slowing down and driving at a more sensible speed is also required but its pretty scary how visiblity is reduced by spray.

[bloodywhitecat]

Fog lights should NOT be used in the rain, taken from the RAC website

Is it ever against the law to drive with your fog lights on?
Yes, the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 prohibits the use of front and rear fog lights to dazzle other drivers when visibility is not reduced or when the vehicle is parked.

Using fog lights in drizzle and rain is therefore not allowed. You are even eligible for a fine from the police if caught.

Once the fog has lifted, switch off your fog lights.

There will be symbol on your car’s dashboard or on the fog light button itself: it’s normally an amber indicator for rear fog lights and a green one for front fog lights.

[ArthurMorgan]

Yellowallpaper there's no need for that is there?

[FlamingoAndJohn]

Yes having fog lights on is illegal and annoying but I really wouldn’t get upset enough about it to flash someone.

[Notodontidae]

I like helping people on these threads, and judging by the comments on this one, lots of people have been helped. Does make you wonder about the need to take a retest though.

[AuntSpiker]

I really can't see the issue, you're on a dark country lane and someone has their fog light on when it's not strictly necessary. But if it's dark, visibility isn't very good anyway. I might wonder why they had their fog lights on but I wouldn't flashing them - it just wouldn't bother me enough.

Another person who isn't familiar with the Highway Code. Here you go:

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.

[BlaueLagune]

Some men just cannot stop themselves flashing a little woman - it gets to the point where it’s just harassment

We have a Ford Focus with a rear windscreen you can't see through from outside, so that doesn't happen. Interestingly I haven't really experienced the small car thing with my Toyota Yaris - I did think I would get bullied a bit but it's not happened, not noticeably so.

[BlaueLagune]

99% of rainy weather doesn’t reduce visibility to less than 100 metres so using fog lights in that case IS illegal

People are forgetting the effects of the spray, especially around lorries.

In any event, the wording of the Highway Code doesn't say it's illegal if visibility is better than 100m. The 100m is an example.

[BlaueLagune]

why would anybody be that bothered about a fog light, enough for everyone to flash at op
I can’t actually believe someone needs to ask this. Oh wait I can due to the amount of idiots I see driving with their fog lights on and no fog

I really can't see the issue, you're on a dark country lane and someone has their fog light on when it's not strictly necessary. But if it's dark, visibility isn't very good anyway. I might wonder why they had their fog lights on but I wouldn't flashing them - it just wouldn't bother me enough.

I do find that people having their headlights on when there's a bit of rain causes more glare so unnecessary lights are a pain, but eg on the motorway when it's raining hard and you get lots of spray visibility can be shocking so I can't really understand the hate for fog lights.