Aside from making the car look cool or serving as some marketing tool, can someone tell me what the purpose of fog lights is?

 

THis morning it was foggy, so I turned on my fog lights. I saw no improvement in my visibility. a few years ago, in my other car, I turned on the fog lights one night when it was foggy, and again I couldn't see any better.

 

I know fog lights cast a low wide beam, but what does that accomplish? If something suddenly shows up 2 feet in front of my car while I'm going 20 mph, it's too late for me to react.

 

I honestly want to know so that I can drive better in fog if I ever have to again.

 

thanks.

Aside from making the car look cool or serving as some marketing tool, can someone tell me what the purpose of fog lights is?

 

THis morning it was foggy, so I turned on my fog lights. I saw no improvement in my visibility. a few years ago, in my other car, I turned on the fog lights one night when it was foggy, and again I couldn't see any better.

 

I know fog lights cast a low wide beam, but what does that accomplish? If something suddenly shows up 2 feet in front of my car while I'm going 20 mph, it's too late for me to react.

 

I honestly want to know so that I can drive better in fog if I ever have to again.

 

thanks.

In theory, the fact that the fog lights are mounted low makes it less likely that the fog will reflect the light back into your eyes, which keeps you from being blinded by your own lights. This is why mounting fog lights on the roof or rollbar (yes, I've seen this! ) makes no sense. The low, wide beam also helps to illuminate the area right in front of the car.

 

But, if the fog is thick enough, the area illuminated by the fog lights is still way short of what it would be if there was no fog.

 

OTOH, remember that the other purpose of lights (both fog and headlights) is to allow others to see you. So, in that sense, I would say that in thick fog, there's no such thing as "too much" light as long as the light isn't reflecting back in your eyes and harming your vision.

 

Personally, I'd like to see rear fog lights on vehicles, too. A bright red light (brighter than your brake lights when they are activated) would help prevent rear-end collisions.

 

Needless to say, reducing your speed is the only way to be safe in thick fog, fog lights or no.

During fog and rain I see the lines or edge of the road much clearer. When driving in a car without "fog" lights in the rain, I really miss them.

 

Plus the look good!