Safe Speed Forums

True, in that photo the visibility does appear to be in excess of 100m, although one photo doesn't necessarily tell us the whole story. However, I wouldn't be getting too hung up on the 100m figure, since the HC doesn't say you must ONLY use headlights when visibility is that poor, rather that 100m is generally considered to qualify as poor visibility...




Being fair to Ernest, his photo shows nothing of the sort. It is quite possible to end up with dangerous levels of glare in certain conditions, but that's a different part of the argument. In the conditions shown in the above photo, the use of dipped lights does appear to be valid - note how much easier it is to spot the oncoming vehicles than the vehicle Ernest was following, despite their greater distance.

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Chris

I have never driven in conditions where front fogs contributed anything towards seeing where you are going, unless you like looking at the 6' of grass verge right in front of the car, and in fog I am looking further forward than that. Perhaps in really extreme blizzard conditions?

Their only purpose appears to be so that other people can see you better, which is better translated as, so you can dazzle other drivers better by having them on all the time.

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Q. Are you a stupid fascist with limited reading skills or are you just a retard?

Back on sidelights, I use them a lot.

I figure in the period of dusk (or dodginess of weather) where it's still bright enough not for me to see the glow cast by my dipped headlights, they're not necessary, and sidelights will suffice.

Particularly on busy dual carriageways, all you end up doing with dipped beam is dazzling the driver in front.

But I also think I put sidelights on quite readily, where many drivers will have no lights on.

Front fogs in the day time are totally unnecessary under ANY conditions! They are of no use to the driver using them and are not as good at being seen by others as dipped headlights. Front fogs were only ever meant as an anti-glare substitute for headlights in the dark, for crawling home when conditions are so bad that your car should really be in the garage!

In 50 years of driving, I've only ever used them once (less than 10mph) and boy, was I sh***ing myself.

Come on, doesn't anyone remember the foglight public information film with Peter Pervis, the general jist of which was that foglights should not be used in the rain AT ALL!

I don't, and I am of that "life begins at" age... I vaguely remember him in Blue Peter though.

This just highlights that complete failure of successive governments to do meaningful road safety adverts; in fact most of the recent ones have totally discredited the concept so that many won't pay attention to them anyway - after all so many have been a set of lies followed by "Just stick to the speed limit and everything will be ok." Which any driver watching instinctively knows to be complete bull.

When I said I used them, I was talking about conditions so bad that absolute visibility is 10m or less due to the torrents of rain, and I cannot see anything of any other vehicle. When the conditions improve (which will only be minutes as even in Indian monsoons it doesn't last that long at that intensity) they go off again.

I should have specified rear fogs, to avoid being rear ended by drivers who were dashing headlong around corners, and finding waves of heavy rain.
I was not able to take the pictures myself, but the shot accross the screen should have shown better, the amount of water on the screen, despite the wipers working on max. speed. In fact the camera has frozen what was a wall of water cascading over the screen, which made forward sight limited.
I also highlighted the fact that at a junction, looking down the main road at traffic which is closing fast, through the unswept side windows, the view is poor at best, and oncoming cars with no lights only become obvious when too close to pull out.
I dont expect FSJ to utilise his lights if he should choose not to, if somebody pulls out right in front of him because they have not seen him coming he can always hide in the safe knowledge that he did not have to have his lights on, because he could be seen at 100 yards as specified in the Highway Code!!
I wonder if he measures out his stopping distances with the same precision?

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

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Q. Are you a stupid fascist with limited reading skills or are you just a retard?

This interests me. Just this evening/afternoon (5pm) I was driving home from work in very very slight drizzle and an enormous percentage of cars had lights on. Apart from being "dull and overcast" - light and visibility were absolutely fine and I could see as far as was possible given the road layout. As far as I could work out, drivers were over-reacting to the absence of the bright sunshine that was about earlier in the day. Their lights only achieved a reduction in effective visibility for other drivers as far as I could tell.

I drive with my dipped beam on all the time, mainly habbit, as a cyclist I always had lights on the bike, even then I kept getting SMIDY'd and work most of the sites I visit require dipped beam especially gas pipeline sites and MoD sites, excpet when approach the gatehouse and they require sidelights only (they get very upset if you don't obey).

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Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

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Q. Are you a stupid fascist with limited reading skills or are you just a retard?

Security guards?

Getting upset by details?

Whatever next?

FJSRider, correct, but as I said, now mostly habbit.

Johnnytheboy, most of the MoD sites I went to didn't have civillian security they had squaddies with loaded rifles, from my time in the RAF I know the SA80 is a piece of C P but wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of one.

Knew one engineer who didn't stop at the right place and ended up with a round in his engine block, this was back in the days of the SLR.

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Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

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Q. Are you a stupid fascist with limited reading skills or are you just a retard?

Quite frankly I tent to drive with dipped lights on in dull but daylight conditions as a matter of course. From a purely selfish point of view, so long as the masses can see me I'm happy, and I'm confident enough in my own observation skills that I can happily see those vehicles without lights on.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Ah - you take the view that lights might not stop SMIDSY's - but as long as it stops at least ONE?
Excellent choice, and one in keeping with my own.

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

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Q. Are you a stupid fascist with limited reading skills or are you just a retard?

If you're that worried, out your lights on too. I can't see any real reason why not to (unless your charging system or battery is compltetly fubar'd)

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

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Q. Are you a stupid fascist with limited reading skills or are you just a retard?