What is the effect of turning on the fog lights?
2 Answers
The effect of turning on the fog lights is to alert passing vehicles to the presence of your vehicle in foggy or rainy conditions. According to traffic regulations, when visibility is between 100 and 200 meters, fog lights, low beam lights, width indicator lights, and tail lights must be turned on, the speed should not exceed 60 km/h, and a distance of more than 100 meters should be maintained from the vehicle ahead. When visibility is between 50 and 100 meters, fog lights, low beam lights, width indicator lights, and tail lights should be turned on, and the speed should not exceed 40 km/h. Other lights on the vehicle include: 1. Width indicator lights: When parking in dimly lit areas in the evening, width indicator lights indicate the presence and approximate width of the vehicle; 2. Low beam lights: These are the lights used for nighttime driving in urban areas.
After turning on the fog lights, their effect is quite noticeable, especially in low-visibility weather. Having driven for many years, I've observed that in fog or heavy rain, when the fog lights are activated, they cast a low beam towards the road surface instead of projecting upwards like headlights. This better illuminates the road edges and signs while reducing glare caused by light reflecting back into the driver's eyes, significantly improving visibility. I've experienced situations where the road was barely visible in thick fog, but once the fog lights were on, the visibility improved immediately, making lane markings clearer and driving more confident. However, remember that fog lights are specifically for adverse weather conditions; avoid using them in clear skies as they're designed to penetrate fog and rain with their wide, low beams, which otherwise waste energy and can dazzle other drivers. There's a distinction between front and rear fog lights: front fog lights aid in road visibility, while rear fog lights are red, serving to alert following vehicles to prevent rear-end collisions, particularly useful on highways.
