minor rant: why don't people use their lights in the fog??

[chillinn]

I believe that, however less roads does not mean less traffic either.

Its the opposite of what our common sense tells us, but actually it does: less road, less traffic. The wiki link explains this craziness. Sorry for an OT "hey someone was wrong on the Internet" nitpicking. First I heard of it I was complaining about the behavior of Simcity and I forget who opened my eyes to this seemingly very strange principle of civil infrastructure that is not obvious, at least not obvious to me. Cause and effect fascinates me, makes sense most times to me, but supply and demand is mysterious to me, yet uninteresting. Its not a law of nature or anything, so in the case of your experience, could be it is different or perhaps it takes time for drivers to adjust to the new traffic patterns, idk, I was just jumping in there with an odd bit I heard.

 

[alpg88]

Its the opposite of what our common sense tells us, but actually it does: less road, less traffic. The wiki link explains this craziness. Sorry for an OT "hey someone was wrong on the Internet" nitpicking. First I heard of it I was complaining about the behavior of Simcity and I forget who opened my eyes to this seemingly very strange principle of civil infrastructure that is not obvious, at least not obvious to me. Cause and effect fascinates me, makes sense most times to me, but supply and demand is mysterious to me, yet uninteresting. Its not a law of nature or anything, so in the case of your experience, could be it is different or perhaps it takes time for drivers to adjust to the new traffic patterns, idk, I was just jumping in there with a odd bit I learned.

yea that all makes sense actually, but we are talking about large city, most cars there work there, delivery trucks, yellow cabs, limos, buses, or live there, they have no choice, they have to be there, thanks for the link, cool stuff.

 

[MichaelW]

Moderator edit: This post does not pass for meaningful contribution.

 

[yoyoman]

It's not just Illinois. I live near Geneva - very close to where the original Frankenstein was written. We sometimes get fog in the fall or winter that would make you think you were in Transylvania. Not just dense but heavy and oppressive. My commute is about 45 K on the highway. Driving home one foggy night, I saw red lights in front of me. They got big very quickly - the driver was going about 40 KPH - the speed limit is 100 KPH and I was going about 80 KPH. Luckily, instead of just passing the car, I looked in my side view mirror. A blob of white light rapidly approaching. So while I agree with alpg88 that regular lights don't let you see, they do let others see you. I had to hit the breaks and then pass after the nut went by. Both drivers must have been drinking dirty water.

 

[more_vampires]

Same here. It's required by law in some states, but I've yet to see an instance of enforcement.

An ex-gf of mine got a ticket, the law said "windshield wipers on, headlights on." She became really paranoid about it.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

We sometimes get fog in the fall or winter that would make you think you were in Transylvania. Not just dense but heavy and oppressive. My commute is about 45 K on the highway. Driving home one foggy night, I saw red lights in front of me. They got big very quickly - the driver was going about 40 KPH - the speed limit is 100 KPH and I was going about 80 KPH.

The lead vehicle's driver may have not felt comfortable going much faster. You might have looked like a nut to him Certainly, the guy that passed you both was the real nut-- you should consider getting a rear fog lamp if people like that abound.

 

[-Virgil-]

He's probably already got a rear fog lamp; they've been required equipment in Europe for years.

 

[Yoda4561]

I'd say half the reason is everyone relies on the automatic headlight feature nowdays. It's bright enough during foggy conditions many times to not turn them on, and no one thinks about it because they've gotten used to the sensor doing it for them. To make matters worse figuring out the manual overide for the lights these days can be a pain in the ***, I still haven't figured them out on our 2001 s10 well enough to operate them while driving, I have to pull over or park somewhere and fiddle with it for 5 minutes before I'm sure it's on the right setting.

 

[-Virgil-]

Maybe even more of an influence toward improper use of lights: dashboards that are always lit up, day or night, because they're now display screens that have to light up to be visible at all. Time was, a dark dashboard meant no lights. Of course, then careless people would drive around with their parking and tail lights lit but no headlamps, because that first click of the switch lit up the dashboard.

 

[Steve K]

Maybe even more of an influence toward improper use of lights: dashboards that are always lit up, day or night, because they're now display screens that have to light up to be visible at all. Time was, a dark dashboard meant no lights. Of course, then careless people would drive around with their parking and tail lights lit but no headlamps, because that first click of the switch lit up the dashboard.

I have to admit that I had that problem/issue/moment-of-stupidity the other day.... it happened in an urban area when I left a store. The roads were all lit very well, and I was trying to figure out why I couldn't dim my dashboard lights.

D'oh!! I couldn't dim them because my headlights weren't on!!!

I've had this car for 3 years, and it's happened twice so far. It still seems strange that the dash lights are on all the time, although I only notice at night.

 

[eggsalad]

My current car ('90 Acura Integra) has factory fog lights. However, they're just inboard of the headlights, which is precisely the wrong place for fog lights.

I tried using them once, in actual fog, and people kept flashing their high beams at me, probably because they thought my fog lights were high beams.

That switch is permanently off now - I just use the low beams in fog.

 

[-Virgil-]

My current car ('90 Acura Integra) has factory fog lights. However, they're just inboard of the headlights, which is precisely the wrong place for fog lights.

It's not really a "wrong" place for fog lamps, it's perfectly legal and if they're aimed correctly they can do OK, but lower is better for fog lamps.

I tried using them once, in actual fog, and people kept flashing their high beams at me, probably because they thought my fog lights were high beams.

The fog lamps were likely aimed too high.

That switch is permanently off now - I just use the low beams in fog.

That's really best.

 

[yoyoman]

1986 Porsche 911. A previous owner removed the rear fog lamps because they were ugly. The front fog lights are low and very useful.

He's probably already got a rear fog lamp; they've been required equipment in Europe for years.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

1986 Porsche 911. A previous owner removed the rear fog lamps because they were ugly.

The things people do in the name of aesthetics... Rear fog lamps could save a life (or at least a set of bumpers).