Vehicles not fit for the road
Discussion
At my daughters ballet school I spotted a jeep / range river thing that has utterly bald tyres. I don’t mean down to the tread, I mean as smooth as polished glass.
No idea whose it was but , it was clearly taking little girls to do ballet and driving in/ out of a steep car park with dozens of other tiny kids.
I reported it to the police: being careful to say, can you just give them a friendly call, knock. I’m not trying to grass them up: just really worried about them taking someone out.
A few weeks later it appeared with a full new set of tyres.
Ok they were wing wong, happy gallop, much lucky for you tyres. But at least it had some.
No idea whose it was but , it was clearly taking little girls to do ballet and driving in/ out of a steep car park with dozens of other tiny kids.
I reported it to the police: being careful to say, can you just give them a friendly call, knock. I’m not trying to grass them up: just really worried about them taking someone out.
A few weeks later it appeared with a full new set of tyres.
Ok they were wing wong, happy gallop, much lucky for you tyres. But at least it had some.
MitchT said:
I find it ironic that an old car will fail its MOT because a front indicator isn't working, but if a brand new car has HIDs you can't see the front indicators flashing anyway because the headlights are so bright, and that's perfectly acceptable!
That and some cars with searchlights for rear lights. And a little rant here, with the latest batch of cars with more electronic software gizmos you can shake a stick at can the manufactures build in a sensor to tell the driver when it ISNT foggy and switch their fekking rear fog lights off.Vipers said:
MitchT said:
I find it ironic that an old car will fail its MOT because a front indicator isn't working, but if a brand new car has HIDs you can't see the front indicators flashing anyway because the headlights are so bright, and that's perfectly acceptable!
That and some cars with searchlights for rear lights. And a little rant here, with the latest batch of cars with more electronic software gizmos you can shake a stick at can the manufactures build in a sensor to tell the driver when it ISNT foggy and switch their fekking rear fog lights off.No longer does a period of foggy weather bring that sense of dread that some idiots will still be driving round with their fog lights on up to a week later.
Jordie Barretts sock said:
I'm yet to see a case for rear (or front) fog lights.
Even in an utterly dense fog, they do nothing but dazzle. In fact, worse in a dense fog.
Really? I'd have thought it was obvious and just common sense.Even in an utterly dense fog, they do nothing but dazzle. In fact, worse in a dense fog.
A rear foglight allows you to be SEEN from a greater distance. Which could (should) help avoid people driving into you. In heavy fog a regular rear light can be very difficult to see, especially on some cars. Meaning the car behind you may not be able to see until very close to you.
Front fogs a bit different. They certainly can aid in the visibility of you car, which again is a very good thing if you are pulling out into moving traffic, you want to be able to see the cars coming at you to judge speed & distance.
Front fogs can also aid what you can see when driving, this of course depends on the vehicle, headlights and foglight design. But it should light up the kerb or verge better, the white line and/or cats eyes. And reduce glare and bounce back from the fog. They also will produce less glare for on coming traffic compared to things like mainbeam.
Think about it, why do we use lights at night?
It is the same reason in fog, just that regular intensity lights are less effective in fog, so you need higher intensity.
Jordie Barretts sock said:
I'm yet to see a case for rear (or front) fog lights.
Even in an utterly dense fog, they do nothing but dazzle. In fact, worse in a dense fog.
When you see an 80's or older car out in bad weather the rear lights are barely visible. I can imagine there was a greater need for fog lights back then.Even in an utterly dense fog, they do nothing but dazzle. In fact, worse in a dense fog.
Jordie Barretts sock said:
Not when you are within 100 metres of a vehicle with a rear fog light on. There should be a rear radar that turns it off.
Either you're driving too close (if you can't see a car in front of the one you're following, look up how chain collisions happen with hundreds of cars) or the fog isn't that bad that the rear fog light needs to be on?I try to actively manage the rear fog light depending on fog density and traffic, but have been caught out driving into an extremely dense fogbank after thinking I was in the clear for half an hour and it sucks to have to divert attention away to put the fog light back on again while deciding how much you need to slow down because visibility is less than a lamp post away with no visible cars in front.
Jordie Barretts sock said:
Not when you are within 100 metres of a vehicle with a rear fog light on. There should be a rear radar that turns it off.
meh....Personally I'd say use the rear fog light you would mainbeam, so turn it on/off as required, including being aware if anyone is behind you. That said, they really aren't all that blinding, certainly not in fog.
I've driven in thick fog many many times. Often a car in front has not used their rear fogs, but the one in front of them is. And you can end up seeing that car way before the one in front you, which is very handy and helpful to know you are coming up on other vehicles. Out of all the things automotive and road safety, fog lights as an issue would be so far down the list it isn't even worth mentioning.
Vipers said:
sparkythecat said:
Vipers said:
What annoys me is those with a rear wiper, which unless I am wrong, includes a wash as well, drive around with the rear window obliterated with dirt.
I’ll be on your list then. I spent 25 years driving a van, so door mirrors are all I ever use.
Edited by Vipers on Saturday 21st January 09:50
300bhp/ton said:
Jordie Barretts sock said:
Not when you are within 100 metres of a vehicle with a rear fog light on. There should be a rear radar that turns it off.
meh....Personally I'd say use the rear fog light you would mainbeam, so turn it on/off as required, including being aware if anyone is behind you. That said, they really aren't all that blinding, certainly not in fog.
I've driven in thick fog many many times. Often a car in front has not used their rear fogs, but the one in front of them is. And you can end up seeing that car way before the one in front you, which is very handy and helpful to know you are coming up on other vehicles. Out of all the things automotive and road safety, fog lights as an issue would be so far down the list it isn't even worth mentioning.
In the case of rear fog lights. They should be used when a following car cannot be seen through fog.
However if a driver can see the headlights of the car behind in thick fog, it is likely the following driver can see the rear fog lights of the car in front. at which point the rear fog lights can be turned off. If visual contact is lost, the rear fogs should be turned on again until visual contact is re established. The problem is that when it comes to using fog lights, some people only think in terms of moving vehicles, but if the car in front has stopped for any reason. It is nice to think that you will be able to see those fog lights and stop `before' piling into the back of a stationary vehicle in thick fog.
Unreal said:
300bhp/ton said:
cce427 said:
I see this was discussed here some time ago but even more common today. As a retired mechanic I see so many vehicles EVERY DAY that are not fit for the road due to under inflated tyres, no brake lights, missing rear wiper blades, unreadable number plates, missing door mirrors, missing bumpers, failed headlights, badly aligned headlights and that was just this morning, drives my wife mad :-) If I see under inflated tyres I try and make the driver aware. all these offences are normaly dealt with by a caution and a chance to rectify but with no traffic cops in my area they just get more and more common. I think there should be an online app that we can report to and it simply sends the owner a letter and a period to rectify.
And before you start I am not a grass just concerned for the safety of others
Wow, you must live in a really rough area to see so many vehicles EVERY DAY. And before you start I am not a grass just concerned for the safety of others
Is a missing rear wiper blade really not fit the road ffs
Glad there isn't an app if people are going to try and cause innocent people greif with guff like that.300bhp/ton said:
cce427 said:
When I used to take cars for an MOT if something is fitted to a vehicle it has to work, like a spare tyre, if it is missing it is fine, if you have one and it is bald its a fail. Rear wipers are the same unless the law has changed.
Take as in transport or actually conduct MoT's?Knowing the law & regs may help you a lot as you appear to be hugely mistaken in your beliefs.
Don't know if it still holds true but the for old hackney MOT test if it was there it had to work and that included things like 1/4 lights (anyone remember them?)
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