Dense Fog, One eyed Monsters, and Stealth Cyclists

[very-near]

Scary combination on the way in this morning

Cars with headlight and fog light bulbs out or misaligned. Cyclists with either no lights, no reflective or lights obscured by loads carried on racks on country roads, which already makes them very stealth, and is also being exacerbated by the brightness of rear fog lights.

It isn't good

 

[upsidedown]

Yesterday was mildly foggy here, drivers seem to think that if visibility is less than a mile and a half they should put their fog lights on, AyUps set to stun soon sort that.

 

[very-near]

Yesterday was mildly foggy here, drivers seem to think that if visibility is less than a mile and a half they should put their fog lights on, AyUps set to stun soon sort that.

Sorry to sound a bit negative, but two wrongs don't make a right.

Fog lights set correctly have a very low beam spread to get under the fog so theoretically shouldn't be a problem to oncoming traffic. Deliberately dazzling a driver coming the other way means that you could distract someone who is passing or following a vulnerable road user. If you are following a car which is using a rear fog light, this can be extremely annoying, but the reality is that they should be looking in front of them for the very vast majority of the time so any attempt to dazzle to show your annoyance will be lost.

Keeping front fogs on as a fashion acessory boils my piss BTW

 

[upsidedown]

Sorry to sound a bit negative, but two wrongs don't make a right.

Fog lights set correctly have a very low beam spread to get under the fog so theoretically shouldn't be a problem to oncoming traffic. Deliberately dazzling a driver coming the other way means that you could distract someone who is passing or following a vulnerable road user. If you are following a car which is using a rear fog light, this can be extremely annoying, but the reality is that they should be looking in front of them for the very vast majority of the time so any attempt to dazzle to show your annoyance will be lost.

Keeping front fogs on as a fashion acessory boils my piss BTW

Correct, two wrongs don't make a right.
But, i ride along unlit country lanes, cars coming the other way don't even register that having their main beam and fog lights on could cause a problem to a cyclist.
Almost without fail the only time they will dip or switch of the fog lights is if a car appears behind me, so a quick adjustment of my lights to shine at eye level for them usually does the trick.

 

[very-near]

Correct, two wrongs don't make a right.
But, i ride along unlit country lanes, cars coming the other way don't even register that having their main beam and fog lights on could cause a problem to a cyclist.
Almost without fail the only time they will dip or switch of the fog lights is if a car appears behind me, so a quick adjustment of my lights to shine at eye level for them usually does the trick.

The only time I have seen a car driver switch off their fog lights is when they have either emerged from fog, or have seen other drivers do the same first.

I had the misfortune to be dazzled by a cyclist using an incorrectly aligned HID kit when I was driving through Nottingham in the works van a few years ago and it left a big hole in my vision for a few minutes afterwards. How do I explain that to the kids mother I have just run them over because I was blinded by an inconsiderate road user on a cycle as I passed them ?.

High beam should be used as a warning, not a weapon.

 

[Sailorchick]

Had a chat with a girl (19ish) at traffic lights today. I'd caught her up and explained to her that she looked like a ghost (dark clothes, grey panniers, no lights, no hi vis) in the fog and maybe some lights would be a good idea. She just shrugged and ignored me.

Saw an unusually high number of cyclists on my commute in but only about 3 had lights on. It was foggy and poor light so no idea how the rest got anywhere safely. Was having issues with my lights today as one set has gone on the blink (have 2 so covered) and had to keep switching one of my rear lights back on at each traffic light I stopped at.

 

[upsidedown]

The only time I have seen a car driver switch off their fog lights is when they have either emerged from fog, or have seen other drivers do the same first.

I had the misfortune to be dazzled by a cyclist using an incorrectly aligned HID kit when I was driving through Nottingham in the works van a few years ago and it left a big hole in my vision for a few minutes afterwards. How do I explain that to the kids mother I have just run them over because I was blinded by an inconsiderate road user on a cycle as I passed them ?.

High beam should be used as a warning, not a weapon.

Sorry that doesn't add up.
If you ran somebody over because a cyclist's light blinded you you would be either:

a Driving too fast
b Not paying attention to what was going on around you and driving accordingly
c An incompetent driver

 

[very-near]

Sorry that doesn't add up.
If you ran somebody over because a cyclist's light blinded you you would be either:

a Driving too fast
b Not paying attention to what was going on around you and driving accordingly
c An incompetent driver

So lets get this straight.

You deliberately blind oncoming drivers and then claim

1) They are going too fast (1mph is too fast when an idiot takes your vision with a high powered torch but you still have to stop the vehicle)
2) They are not paying attention (i assume as a result of being blinded by an idiot with a high powered torch)
3) Robbed of their competence (when their vision was taken by an idiot with a high powered torch)

If I were driving along and you were to shine your torch into my eyes, and as a result of you using the torch as a weapon I ran someone over, how would this be my fault ?

People have been sent down for shining lasers into the eyes of Helicopter and Airline pilots before now, and I can't see how you can differentiate between these actions.

It is frankly a stupid strategy designed to injure other road users and you also quite frankly run the risk of a blinded driver running you over as a result of your actions.

I've got HID's on one of my cars which have the equivalent of 300 halogen watts combined, and as a result I have the ability to do this big time if I were so stupid - but I'm not.

 

[RedBike]

I was having a terrible time with my lights in the fog last night. The light was being reflected back off the fog, resulting in me not being able to see a thing.

I had to switch the lights down to there lowest power setting and point them down at the road directly infront of the bike.

On high and pointed straight ahead I might as well have been shining the light straight in my eyes. I could't see a thing.

 

[very-near]

Dipped headlights have a bigger downward angle than fogs. Fog lights are positioned low to get under the fog, but to have any useable spread (and their effectiveness is pretty low anyway) they have to have a shallower angle. That's why people complain about them dazzling.

And if you're being dazzled by a foglight, they shouldn't be on.

I'd say this is true on a lot of cars, but not on either my Mitsubishi or Merc. Both are in line with the dip beam, and the merc perversely has a H4 bulb towards the grill in the light cluster which does both fog and high beam, with the dip beam on the outside of the cluster. I'd say that there are very few instances in town where a rear fog can be justified as they are dazzling to following vehicles/users, but on the motorway and country roads do have their uses. I turn off my rear fogs when being followed closely for this reason.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I very rarely use my foglights. Well, I never use the front ones - they don't seem to make much difference - and the rear ones only get used when I can't see more than about 100 yards, which hardly ever happens. People who use their foglights because it's raining really annoy me, and get a blast of main beam for their troubles. Oh, and people who sit at traffic lights with their foot on the brake pedal, thereby dazzling the driver behind with their brake lights are justas bad.

 

[tdr1nka]

It is very quick and easy to flick the Ay-Up lamps smartly up and down.
I've used this technique to warn oncoming motorists to dip their headlights, otherwise I have them pointing down at a shallow angle. Oncoming traffic can see them and I can see the road ahead too.

 

[Crankarm]

I very rarely use my foglights. Well, I never use the front ones - they don't seem to make much difference - and the rear ones only get used when I can't see more than about 100 yards, which hardly ever happens. People who use their foglights because it's raining really annoy me, and get a blast of main beam for their troubles. Oh, and people who sit at traffic lights with their foot on the brake pedal, thereby dazzling the driver behind with their brake lights are justas bad.

Some idiot drives into the back of them, the driver's head goes back and foot releases from brake pedal. Because thay are dumb asses not bothering to put the handbrake on means their car is able to move forward crashing into the car in front as momentum is transferred to their car once it is hit in the rear shoving it into the car in front. Damage front as well as rear. Doesn't help that drivers pull up with very little space between them and the car in front. Why not try leaving more space, use the handbrake and if the idiot driver of the car in front doesn't take their foot off the brake pedal, put your headlights on full beam . It is always advisable to leave enough space between you and the car in front so you can easily pull around them if needs be.

 

[very-near]

I very rarely use my foglights. Well, I never use the front ones - they don't seem to make much difference - and the rear ones only get used when I can't see more than about 100 yards, which hardly ever happens. People who use their foglights because it's raining really annoy me, and get a blast of main beam for their troubles. Oh, and people who sit at traffic lights with their foot on the brake pedal, thereby dazzling the driver behind with their brake lights are justas bad.

Fog lights and rain are a dangerous combinatation, but I can see their advantage when there is big road spray on motorways. It is a fine balance between warning and dazzling people behind you.

 

[upsidedown]

It is very quick and easy to flick the Ay-Up lamps smartly up and down.
I've used this technique to warn oncoming motorists to dip their headlights, otherwise I have them pointing down at a shallow angle. Oncoming traffic can see them and I can see the road ahead too.

Quite, and not a downed aircraft in sight.