Driving w/Fog Lights on

[dakingsella]

I had an interesting experience on my last trip out. I was on the South Oregon Coast and driving through a small town after dark. I unintentionally had my fog lights turned on. Rather surprised when the car behind me turned on his blue lights as I was driving speed limit. When he came to the window he was upset because I was driving with my fog lights on and really read me the riot act, saying that they blinded him. He said that a state trouper would site me out on the open highway. Has anyone heard of such a thing? I meet trucks all the time with those lights on and they sure don't blind me.

Happy Camping!

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by dakingsella

I had an interesting experience on my last trip out. I was on the South Oregon Coast and driving through a small town after dark. I unintentionally had my fog lights turned on. Rather surprised when the car behind me turned on his blue lights as I was driving speed limit. When he came to the window he was upset because I was driving with my fog lights on and really read me the riot act, saying that they blinded him. He said that a state trouper would site me out on the open highway. Has anyone heard of such a thing? I meet trucks all the time with those lights on and they sure don't blind me.

Happy Camping!

Can't tell you about Oregon, but it's not illegal here in New York. Driving with your high beams on is a different story because that will actually blind someone.

The laws are a bit different in every state.

(I had to read your post several times to figure out that the guy with the blue lights was probably a cop. You might want to be more specific than "the car behind me" when explaining the situation. Blue lights are not universal police lighting colors.)

[Ruffus]

Well Dave, I googled the question and found out that Oregan has made it illegal to drive with fog lights on when there's no fog. After being a cop in California for 20 years it doesn't surprise me that Oregan has found another way to raise revenue without raises taxes. Some States still have laws on their books that should be removed but others such as Oregan is allowing new Bull **** Laws to raise revenue at the local level to supplement their incomes. Did you know it's illegal to bowl in California on Sundays or that it's illegal to shot swallows in a cemetary after midnight. These are real laws in California but they are not enforced. Go figure.

[curlyfungirl]

The ol' trooper was probably p****d that you kept him from driving like a bat out of hell!

[hankaye]

dakingsella, Howdy;

Have you checked the aim point of your beams
against a wall in the dark to see where your lights
(head or fog), are aimed??? An inch of drop at the rear
(hitch), could be 3 feet at an oncoming car/truck/Barney Phife...
Enough to be a horrible distraction, or cause an accident. Something
most folks don't even think about.......

I check mine by parking 25' from a wall, looking straight ahead
the High-beams (headlights, single light style), should sit about 1"
above a line horizontal with the center of the headlight itself ...

hankaye

[Bushman512000]

sounds like road rage to Me tell Him there off and end the bull .turn them on after a 1/2 mile You should be good to go lol Bushman

[dandjh1958]

Thanks so much Dave for sharing this information!! We also live in Oregon and just got a Ram truck and my hubby loves to leave the fog lights on all the time.
We didn't realize that they could blind oncoming traffic- I love that they are bright and make the road visibility great but blinding oncoming traffic isn't a good thing

[dakingsella]

I just found the following news release from the Oregon State Police dated back in 2009. It really is unlawful in Oregon to drive with fog lights under normal driving conditions.

I really don't understand it as I meet vehicles all the time with fog lights on; they are no more intrusive than low beams and they really do provide for better viability for me. But, alas, I will be the good citizen and leave them turned off.

Use Fog Lights Correctly and Safely

02/16/2009

The following is a news release from Oregon Department of Transportation:

With steadily increasing numbers of vehicles on the road with auxiliary or fog lights, state transportation safety officials are reminding people to use vehicle lighting correctly and safely.

"Driving towards a car with both headlights and fog or auxiliary lights on can be like driving toward a car with its high headlight beams on, it can be blinding," said Michele O’Leary with the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Safety Division.

Fog lights are designed to be used at low speeds in fog, heavy mist and snow situations where visibility is significantly reduced. Front fog lights are generally aimed and mounted low to increase the illumination directed towards the road surface. In low visibility situations, fog lights should be dimmed or turned off when an oncoming vehicle approaches. In normal visibility conditions, fog or auxiliary lights should be turned off.

According to Oregon law, auxiliary and/or fog lights must be used like the high beam headlight system of your car. They must be dimmed or turned off within 500 feet of approaching an oncoming vehicle and 350 feet when following another vehicle. The color of auxiliary and/or fog lights is also regulated. Fog lights may be either white or amber (yellow). Rules prohibit other colors such as blue.

If your car came equipped with auxiliary lighting, O’Leary recommends knowing where the switches are, and how to use them - at least to turn the lights off, and leave them off if you don’t want to deal with dimming.

If you plan to install fog and/or auxiliary lights as an after market feature, it is important to know that Oregon has adopted special rules that manufacturers must meet. Products are required to be labeled that the product is not to be used on the street. Manufacturers must meet or exceed SAE and/or DOT manufacturing standards to market their products for street use.

For more information on Vehicle Equipment and Standards, please visit ODOT’s Transportation Safety Web site, http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TS/Veh_Equipment.shtml, or see the Oregon Driver Manual online at: http://www.odot.state.or.uus/forms/dmv/37.pdf. [/HTML]