Constant use of foglights

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:22 pm

Hi,
I'm intending to drive with foglights constantly on as pseudo DRLs.
Has anyone actually been pulled over and fined by the police for doing so?
PLEASE, do not respond telling me it is illegal, etc. I am fully aware of the road rules.
Ta
Bruce

madmort · Postby **madmort** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:46 pm

This is a question I'm very interested in too. I have been weighing the pros and cons of running with the fogs on since I purchased my car. Now I may be enlightened :wink:

. Thanks Bruce.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:51 pm

Englightened! Hee hee.
Just to be clear, we all know it is illegal unless actually foggy, etc.

Postby **NitroDann** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 3:53 pm

In my daily I leave my headlights on 24/7

Dann

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 4:52 pm

IIRC, if you use your foglights and they are wired correctly then the headlights would be on anyway.

They are/were at least in the XR Falcons I have owned and previous cars with fog lights, and cars I put foglights in many many years ago.

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 4:57 pm

Judging by the number of cars I see doing it, the police don't care. But maybe they'd slap it on as an extra, or use it as an excuse to pull you over if you're a bit sus.

smy0003 · Postby **smy0003** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 5:09 pm

I'm with lachy, if the rest of your car is kosher I wouldn't worry about it. Matt also makes a good point, most oem foggies don't come on unless the headlights are on.

Sent from my LG-H815

LiteIsRite · Postby **LiteIsRite** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 5:34 pm

I was pulled over and warned, but not fined, by NSW police in the early noughties.

At the time my daily drive home from work was from the southern Gold Coast, across the border ranges to the Tweed Valley. On late winter afternoons I would sometimes use the fog lights, which was then legal in Queensland AFAIK. One day as I approached the border at Tomewin I noticed a police car parked on the NSW side of the gate. As soon as I crossed the cattle grid, and before I even had time to turn off the fogs, I was pulled over and given a lecture.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 5:49 pm

If you know the road rules then why ask if anyone has been booked for running fog lamps in clear conditions- of course they have been booked.It also drives some drivers mad and people should obey a good law.

Yes its a bad idea running fogs as substitutes for drls.

If you are are running 2 high wattage lamps ( fogs) that reduces their life and burns energy and extra drain on electrical system - a fog light is to see and a DRL is to be seen. DRL's are bright but low wattage.

There is not automatic switching for a fog lamp i.e. it has to be manually controlled. A DRL switches on with ignition start and switched off when the parkers or headlamps are tuned on.

Fog lamps will of course operate independent of head lamps for obvious reasons - i.e. if you are in serious fog i.e. down to near zero visibility then a head lamp reflects back on the driver.

Quality leds are readily available and easy to fit and a great success. A hundred or so dollars gets a pair of quality leds and they are easy to attach to NA NB.

Running headlamps daily is also damned annoying and really a total waste of energy and bulb life. If you drive daily with headlights on you will be replacing bulbs regularly. Dont you love it when some guy comes up behind you in a 4wd twin cab and you sit dazzled in your little MX-5 - its pretty rude.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 6:27 pm

bruce wrote:PLEASE, do not respond telling me it is illegal, etc. I am fully aware of the road rules.

madmort · Postby **madmort** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 6:58 pm

Mr Mortlock .... your a cracker, yet I'm inclined to think most know already. Wasting energy is unforgivable. And lighting up someone's rear tyres is worse.

Cus · Postby **Cus** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:16 pm

ManiacLachy wrote:Judging by the number of cars I see doing it, the police don't care. But maybe they'd slap it on as an extra, or use it as an excuse to pull you over if you're a bit sus.

+a bajillion to this, I drive for work and see just about everyone with fog lights having them turned on. I don't know what the fine is for it here in vic, but it's clearly not worth an officer's time to fire up his disco machine.

NitroDann wrote:In my daily I leave my headlights on 24/7

Also this, always-on in the work car, and in town and around the twisties in the '5

MattR wrote:IIRC, if you use your foglights and they are wired correctly then the headlights would be on anyway.

Depends on the car, I've seen people driving around at night with their parkers on (so the dash illuminates I presume) and their foggies as the actual source of light.
I still maintain euthanising these people is the best course of action.
...and people that need to "racing line" (ie; cut) corners, people that can't maintain the speed limit, people that stop at a roundabout when clearly they don't need to, as well as people that don't use any lights when the weather is actually bad...

Mr Morlock wrote:Dont you love it when some guy comes up behind you in a 4wd twin cab and you sit dazzled in your little MX-5 - its pretty rude.

Darkest legal tin on all windows turned this into a non-issue for me, and having my lights on actually gives me a fighting chance of being seen in a world of SUV-Driving Soccer-Mums.

Rocky · Postby **Rocky** » Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:59 pm

Bruce, you are a Rock Star and there should be special legislation passed to allow you to do whatever the hell you like.
Anyone got any connections they could use in the Victorian government to make this happen?

Seriously though, you didn't say why you want to use your "fog lights".

Cheers.