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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Driving / May 2005Bright red light in bumper
I have seen a handful of cars recently that have a bright red light in their rear bumper, at night. It is usually about 1/3 of the way in from the right-hand side of the bumper. This light is brighter than the car's brake lights and even causes me some glare problems sometimes. What is the purpose of this light exactly, and is there a legal brightness or direction limit for taillights, like there is for headlights? > I have seen a handful of cars recently that have a bright red > light in their rear bumper, at night. It is usually about 1/3 [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > exactly, and is there a legal brightness or direction limit > for taillights, like there is for headlights? It's a rear foglight. In Europe it is mandatory, but only legal for use in fog when visibility is less than 150 feet. Over here some bozos either have no idea their vehicle is equipped with this annoying device or don't care and just drive around with it on all the time. Chris Just one, red, off center and apart from the others, usually on the driver's side? Sounds like a rear fog lamp. People are supposed to use it only in actual fog. Alas (at least here in the US) even using the front ones appropriately seems to be asking too much, so maybe it's just as well that the thing is rarely fitted hereabouts. Cheers, --Joe > I have seen a handful of cars recently that have a bright red light in > their rear bumper, at night. It is usually about 1/3 of the way in from > the right-hand side of the bumper. This light is brighter than the car's > brake lights and even causes me some glare problems sometimes. What is > the purpose of this light exactly, and is there a legal brightness or > direction limit for taillights, like there is for headlights? Rear Fog Lamps. Mandatory in Europe, optional in North America. This article explains them: http://lighting.articles.mbz.org/rearfogs/ Proper implementation is a single lamp (duals mimic brake lamps); proper placement of a single lamp is on the driver's side of the car. The problem is that people misuse them (leave them on all the time) or just aren't even aware their car has them. Present wiring/switching requirements fail to prevent this; proposed new ones in Europe certainly will. And yes, there are legal intensity minimum and maximum, angular spread, color and other requirements for all exterior lighting functions including rear fog. DS > I have seen a handful of cars recently that have a bright red > light in their rear bumper, at night. It is usually about 1/3 [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > exactly, and is there a legal brightness or direction limit > for taillights, like there is for headlights? Rear fog light. Only to be used in heavy fog, theoretically. nate  Signaturereplace "fly" with "com" to reply. http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel >Rear fog light. Only to be used in heavy fog, theoretically. > >nate Though I think they are very helpful in heavy rain\spray and snow as well, particularly during the day. Kevin >> I have seen a handful of cars recently that have a bright red >> light in their rear bumper, at night. It is usually about 1/3 [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Rear fog light. Only to be used in heavy fog, theoretically. I wonder if the people who drive with the rear fog lights on all the time ever wonder what that orange light on the dash means. Likewise, if a red warning light lit up, would they even notice? > nate Ulf >I wonder if the people who drive with the rear fog lights on all the >time ever wonder what that orange light on the dash means. Likewise, if >a red warning light lit up, would they even notice? Some keep the front fogs on all the time, because, for some odd reason, they want to see what's 10 feet in front of their car at 60 MPH. The rear fog comes on with it. To minimize the glare, I raise the overall light level while following these cars, by turning my high beams on. When I finally pass them, I give them a long flash of my rear fog. To reply, please remove one letter from each side of "@" Spammers are VERMIN. Please kill them all. Ulf <asdf@asdf.asdf> wrote: >I wonder if the people who drive with the rear fog lights on all the >time ever wonder what that orange light on the dash means. Likewise, if >a red warning light lit up, would they even notice? Some keep the front fogs on all the time, because, for some odd reason, they want to see what's 10 feet in front of their car at 60 MPH. The rear fog comes on with it. The rear fog light has its own independant switch sire with a yellow pilot lamp. It should operate if the front fogs are lit, and/or if the low or high-beam is lit. To minimize the glare, I raise the overall light level while following these cars, by turning my high beams on. When I finally pass them, I give them a long flash of my rear fog. Understandable, one problem faced by the US is that only one State mentions them in their driver manual, NYS: http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/dmanual/chapter10-manual.htm >Ulf <asdf@asdf.asdf> wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >reason, they want to see what's 10 feet in front of their car at 60 >MPH. The rear fog comes on with it. BMW drivers seem to be the worst offenders. ------------- Alex "Alex Rodriguez" <adr5@columbia.edu> wrote > mot.adv@gotalk.net.au says... >>Some keep the front fogs on all the time, because, for some odd >>reason, they want to see what's 10 feet in front of their car at 60 >>MPH. The rear fog comes on with it. > > BMW drivers seem to be the worst offenders. You're not in the US; here, it's Ford Explorer drivers (because their headlights are so crappy they seem to think they'll see better with the fogs on. My sister is one of these.) Floyd >>Ulf <asdf@asdf.asdf> wrote: >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >>reason, they want to see what's 10 feet in front of their car at 60 >>MPH. The rear fog comes on with it. My experience is the opposite. You can run the front fog lights without the rears, but not the other way around. > BMW drivers seem to be the worst offenders. When I drive my BMW(s) I always turn off the fog lights when they might be glaring to oncoming drivers. > ------------- > Alex Ulf > BMW drivers seem to be the worst offenders. Ah, Alex, as a BMW driver myself, I have undertaken a statistically flawed study of my own which will henceforth gain the veracity of having been published "on the Internet". In it, I determined that, while BMW drivers may *seem* to be the worst offenders, it is simply because BMWs are more noticeable cars. Not all of them have the fog lamps turned on 24/7 (Mine certainly doesn't.). However, in a stunning revelation, my manufactured results tell me that the worst offenders are actually *Pontiac drivers*. You simply don't notice them because Pontiacs fail to attract attention due to their ubiquity. Q.E.D. -- C.R. Krieger (Been there; done that) > > BMW drivers seem to be the worst offenders. > Ah, Alex, as a BMW driver myself, I have undertaken a statistically > flawed study of my own which will henceforth gain the veracity of > having been published "on the Internet". In it, I determined that, > while BMW drivers may *seem* to be the worst offenders, it is simply > because BMWs are more noticeable cars. Not all of them have the fog > lamps turned on 24/7 (Mine certainly doesn't.). CRK, I'm sure you maintain full control of your car's lights at all times, but I have to wonder if maybe BMWs don't seem to be the biggest offenders on full-time rear fogs 'cause most North American-market BMWs...haven't got them? >>>BMW drivers seem to be the worst offenders. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > on full-time rear fogs 'cause most North American-market BMWs...haven't > got them? That's a damn good reason, isn't it? I looked at installing one in my 1990 325is, but the wirring doesn't seem to be there so it's a bigger project than I expected. In my (very limited) experience, the worst offenders seem to be Mercedes drivers, especially those driving coupes and convertibles. The light does have a use, even when ther's no fog: as an idiot light. If the light is on and there's no fog, the driver is most probably an idiot. --- Ignasi. >> BMW drivers seem to be the worst offenders. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > are actually *Pontiac drivers*. You simply don't notice them because > Pontiacs fail to attract attention due to their ubiquity. I notice rear fogs left on, on all sorts of vehicles. However there are only a limited number of GM models so equipped. There are numerous BMW models so equiped. There's your difference. >I have seen a handful of cars recently that have a bright red >light in their rear bumper, at night. It is usually about 1/3 [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >exactly, and is there a legal brightness or direction limit >for taillights, like there is for headlights? Rear fog lamp. --------- Alex |
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