Introduction
You just got home from work on a cold winter night. Even if you’re an experienced driver, the last thing you want is to have trouble seeing on your way home because it’s dark and foggy.
Here, you can say that your fog lights saved the day. Front fog lights are a soft yellow color that helps brighten the road when headlights and high beams are too bright for low-visibility driving, so you can see everything in front of you.
But conditions like the fog that makes it hard to see cause about 38,700 car accidents yearly.
So, the question is: Can it stop things like this from happening, and if not, does it matter?
What are Fog Lights?
Fog lights, also called fog lamps, are small, block- or sphere-shaped lights on the front of your car below the headlights. Since they are tilted differently than most headlights, the light shines directly on the road in front of you instead of a few feet above it.
When bad weather, like fog, rain, mist, or dust, makes it hard to see, the front fog lights come on. Many drivers prefer fog lamps over headlights because headlights can be too bright when there isn’t much light and can shine into the driver’s eyes.
No fog lamps on your car are now the norm. Fog lights only work with a small number of car makes and models, so not every vehicle has them. Fog lamps aren’t on as many cars as they used to be because newer models don’t have them. But the fog lights will only be phased out in the front: Back fog lamps are still required by the law in many places because they are crucial for sharing the road with other cars.
How do they work?
Even though it looks like it, fog doesn’t touch the ground, so lights of fog are aimed as close to the ground as possible, so that you don’t get blinded, the lights point sharply down so that only the ground in front of you is lit up (and other drivers).
Yellow is the most common light bulb to use when replacing the bulb in the front fog lamp. When snow or rain hits white lights, they often make a glare that can be dangerous, blinding, and disorienting. On the other hand, yellow lights may cut through poor vision without glare, making it easier for the eyes to drive.
Also Read: 10 Tips for Driving in the Rain
What are Back Fog Lights?
Front lights of fog help you see the ground better when there isn’t much light. In the same way, back fog lights, sometimes called back fog lamps, are meant to keep you from colliding with cars behind you. Back fog lights add another set of low-level lights that other drivers can see and help you judge distances.
It’s easy to confuse brake lights with fog lights, which is a problem. After all, the color and brightness of brake and fog lights are the same. Even though there is no federal law about this problem, many states have laws that say the rear fog lights have to be made on a different part of the car or have to be on all the time so that they can be seen.
How to make use of your car’s fog lights
Usually, fog lights are turned on with a switch separate from the leading lights. Some cars have buttons to turn them on—one for the back and one for the front, where the fog lights are—while others have a collar on the light stalk that you can turn back and forth. Some cars have rotary light switches that control the fog lights. To turn them on, you pull the switch in the direction you want them to go.
Most cars’ instrument clusters have a symbol that shows when the fog lights are on. Usually, it’s near the sign that says the lights are on. The front fog light symbol points in the same direction as the headlight symbol, but the back fog lamp symbol will indicate the opposite direction. Most fog lights are designed to turn off when the car’s ignition or lights are turned off. If a vehicle is driving with its fog lights on when visibility is good, it’s most likely because the driver was careless and forgot to turn them off.
Also Read: Our top tips for how to drive in snow
When do need to be used it?
Fog lamps are only helpful if you have trouble seeing them because they are dim and point down. They are only necessary for bad weather or when you can’t see the road in front of you. Because of this, you should save them for driving situations that could be dangerous, such as Rain, Snow, Fog, Mist, Dust, etc.
No matter what, you should never turn on your fog lights while driving. Even if your headlights are too bright for the weather, having your fog lights on is often against the law. This is because it only light up the ground a few feet before you. Seeing things like road construction or animals crossing before you is hard.
Conclusion
So, how important are fog lamps or lights?
These are helpful in some situations, but only some need them when it’s hard to see. As was already said, fog lights are starting to go away because many drivers don’t see the point of them. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that fog lights are just extras and that you don’t need them to drive in low-visibility situations.
Even though these lights aren’t as common on newer cars, it’s still important to have them. These helpful lights are meant to make it easier to see the ground in bad weather. This makes them essential for older drivers, drivers who drive at night, and drivers who are in new areas.