Switch off your lights !

[Gnat]

In traffic, notice police paddy wagon up ahead cruising at 55 instead of 70 ...... everyone pops in behind him like wimps *sigh*
..... light goes red, he's on the line, left lane ...... no one in the right lane
I roll out of the left into the right
..... sitting at the lights .... he switches on his flashing lights and gives me the "roll your window down" ! FFS

"Are you aware that operating your fog lights in a metro area is illegal?"
"Huh?! What fog lights?"
"You have your fog lights on"
"Um, they are not fog lights"
"Sir, switch off your fog lights"
"They are not fog lights, and I couldnt switch them off if I wanted to!"
"........... switch off your ....."
** stop lights turn green **
"They are not fog lights"
"........ but sir, something blah blah....."

Got sick of sitting there on a green ..... started driving off.
Thought he's either going to pull me over right there and then or send me something the mail.

Neither happened.
Not sure how you can mistake the vRS LED lights for "fog lights"!

Which brings me to a question.
I know it used to be a big deal for the police years ago with any of the special "non-fog" lights that european cars have, but now "always on" LED lighting is on everything, almost.
Has the law changed?
Or is it simply if the vehicle comes with it standard, and isn't on a manual switch, these lights are tolerated?

[Rosie]

Volvo's have had daytime running lights since the '70's. All Telstra fleet vehicles (i.e. non-contractor vehicles) have the headlights on via the ignition by default setting. As I understand it, the law applies to FOG lights only.

Depending on the angles they hit you the intensity of the factory fogs when used on suburban streets in the absence of any fog within a 500 km radius because the wanker using them thinks they look cool can be a bit annoying. Even worse are the retro fits done at home by people who have no idea about fog light alignment.

And while I'm having a whinge about people that don't give a stuff about anyone else. If you must be a selfish bastard at least only put the front one's on. Why I need to be sitting behind someone on a motorway on a clear night with a rear fog light glaring at me I'll never know.

If anyone is thinking of saying the additional light helps their confidence driving at night, consider that if your night vision is that bad maybe you shouldn't be driving at night.

[dArK5HaD0w]

oh dear
next time - turn on & off ur actual foglights - then see wat the blue uniformed person says!!!

if it were the standard octavias with drls enabled, i'd understand, as their drls r situtated besides the foglight, in the same housing.
but as far am i'm aware, the aus spec version don't have these enabled from factory.

i saw a new pasat with this though. at fisrt i thought the same thing too - foglight r on - but then as we passed, i noticed it has drls next to the foglight - like the non-vrs octavias.

[Rosie]

Now that I've taken my blood pressure pills, and had a good double expresso I just wanted to say that I'd like to think that we all know that no matter the situation, these days the bloke in blue is always going to be right.

There was a time when even Highway Patrol cops were allowed to exercise discretion. These days they just write the ticket, and tell the driver to either go to court, or write a defence citing a good driving record. I've only had 2 tickets in the last 20 years, so it's not like I've got an axe to grind. I'm just saying the way it is.

I'm only bringing it up because I've owned legally modified muscle cars. One day I drove out of a NSW motor registry after having an inspection done, and within 10 minutes was pulled over by a cop. He wrote me up for an infringement regardless of the fact that I was holding in my hand an engineering certificate, and an RTA (NSW) inspection certificate with "Pass" stamped on it for the very thing he was writing me up for. He wasn't the least bit interested in a single word I had to say.

Another time I got pulled over for not using a blinker to make a right hand turn. I showed the officer that the street I was in was the same name as the one I'd just come from, and that if I'd gone straight ahead then I would've been required to put my left hand blinker on, as I'd be making a left hand turn. He said that I seemed pretty sure of myself. I asked him to look at the address on my license. I was two doors from my own driveway. He laughed shaking his head and gave me my license back, and wished me a good day before getting in his car and driving off.

It all comes down to who you get on the day.

The fog light thing annoys me, in that people that do it just don't care about anyone else. They might say it helps them see better at night, but so does driving with your high beams on, and I don't want to be blinded by either thanks. I don't think that's being unreasonable.

[team_v]

Ummmmm, the vRS actually does have separate fog lamps to the LED DRL's doesn't it?
So could you have been driving with your fog lamps on by accident?

[woofy]

I agree with the foglights on all the time wanker thing. He might have thought you put those lights on yourself, lots of people are. Again mainly the Commodore/Falcon tools who also leave them on all the time. Its in the same category as putting the Chev badges on a Commodore.

[rayray086]

It's like rear taillights that were smoked from the factory. Mk3 VR6s have it and I know people have been pulled over and defected for them, only to be cleared moments later. It's silly.

[dArK5HaD0w]

So could you have been driving with your fog lamps on by accident?

provided u accidently pulled the light switch knob while in the 'parker' or 'lowbeam' postion, and didn't notice the illuminated foglight symbol in the dash-cluster.

[Michelle]

In defence of fog lights when there is no fog...I use them at night on rural roads, not in the city, to spot roos before they arrive on my bonnet. Yes, I also have spot lights. Fog lights hit the edges of the road and improve the overall lighting of the whole area, which you want when the grass is a metre high. Spotlights hit the road higher up ahead. I do not use them in town as I said, and I switch them off just like high beam and spotties for traffic.

They are invaluable and I won't be without them. Have proven themselves time after time.

I am aware they are now illegal if there isn't any fog but I will continue to use them because the law in this case has failed to consider the alternative use of fog lights for people who are driving at night on rural roads. If the pratts who use them ALL the time were targetted we wouldn't all be having to pay the price for those fools.

[djorkboy]

What I really really hate is the muppets in Hyundai Excels who don't realise that they have a rear fog light that absolutely blinds anyone behind them. If you are doing it to p!ss me off then fair play to you, but I know you just have them on because you have no idea.

I can live with front fogs, they are always pointed down and out anyway and they serve other purposes besides helping in fog, as said by the previous poster. I live in a rural area and there are a few neanderthals who think the correct moment to dip their high beam is when the oncoming driver is so blinded he starts to black out and swerve.

[Rosie]

I am aware they are now illegal if there isn't any fog but I will continue to use them because the law in this case has failed to consider the alternative use of fog lights for people who are driving at night on rural roads.

I don't have a problem with responsible use of any lights anywhere, any time. The law is poorly written, and I'll go out on a limb and say it was quite likely written by a city dweller. I used my fogs a lot during the drought on drives to Canberra. The Federal Highway along Lake George is light coloured and at that time I'm not exagerating by saying there was evidence of roos getting hit every single km of that drive. You don't notice so much on black asphalt, but on that surface you can't miss it. The fogs throwing off to the side let me know what was there.

The RTA road Users Handbook says, "Front and rear fog lights must only be used in fog or rain, or when conditions such
as smoke and dust limit your vision. It is a legal requirement that once conditions improve and you can see more clearly, the front and rear fog lights are switched off."

It could be said, that the dark of night limits your vision, and logic says that it would be hard to argue against that, but there is another RTA rule against having any light fitted to your vehicle "dazzle" another driver, which is why highbeams must be fitted with a dipper switch, and not used 200m from oncoming traffic, nor 200m when following others. With the quality of high beams these days even 200m is too close. I was taught to dip my lights as soon as I knew there was uncoming traffic. Distance didn't come into it. Most rural drivers would do the same, which meant that when two cars approached a bend they would both be on low beam by the time they had a visual on each other.

If the pratts who use them ALL the time were targetted we wouldn't all be having to pay the price for those fools.

If they had a blitz one weekend in Sydney I reckon it'd fund putting an extra lane each way on the M5!

Its in the same category as putting the Chev badges on a Commodore.

Or "M" badges on a BMW 318i.

[Smead]

I gotta admit this annoyed me greatly when living in Sydney, and sadly it was mainly the V8 brigade and Jap racers who where responsible (All those older lancers with the Evo 6 bodykits) Dont notice it too much down here in Canberra. Will be interesting as Audi style DRLs (The LED ones) look set to become standard fitment on ALL cars sold in Australia...

[Blitzen]

I drive with my foggies on all the time... Small cars and roundabouts aren't the best combination when it comes to dead**** SUV drivers, especially in Canberra...
Yeah, I know that I am going to hear all the arguments from people with photo sensitive eyes, but if you have trouble looking at 55w globes, you probably shouldn't be outside in the sun, or you should wear sunglasses at night while driving into oncoming headlight.

[brimway]

There is a very good reason for the authorities banning fog lights ............ it is the nanny state mentality. Who knows what's next.

[Rosie]

I ......., but if you have trouble looking at 55w globes, you probably shouldn't be outside in the sun, or you should wear sunglasses at night while driving into oncoming headlight.

Well, thanks for the handy hints on solar protection, but you've just proven why you, and too many like you, shouldn't even have fog lights.

A headlight reflector is angled very differently to a fog light reflector. The bulbs are both 55W, but the intensity of the reflection is why one is compulsory at night, and the other illegal.