Misused fog lights causing crashes - report on What Car?

[BlueJazz]

An interesting report below from Swift Cover and reported by What Car? Sadly there's no evidence to back up the 300,000 accidents but at least they know younger drivers are to blame! The question is, will this report make any difference to fog lights on in the wrong conditions?

27 January 2012

Dazzling fog lights cause 300,000 accidents
Many leaving them on for vanity reasons
Younger drivers most to blame

A new report suggests misused fog lights caused as many as 300,000 crashes in 2011, with many drivers leaving the bright beams on in non-foggy conditions for vanity reasons.

Research found that 14% of drivers left their fog lights on ‘because it looks good,’ while a further 21% did so because their standard lights were not bright enough.

Younger drivers were more likely to leave their fog lights on for cosmetic reasons when conditions were clear, with 22% of 18 to 34-year-olds confessing to the offence. Just 3% of those aged 35-54 said they did so for the same reason.

The biggest reason given for fog lights being left on was simply forgetting to turn them off, cited by 40% of those asked. A further 27% said they did it by mistake. The final 11% were either not sure, or claimed it was for ‘another reason’.

Insurance company Swiftcover,com found that 8% of all drivers confessed to the misdemeanour, having surveyed 1600 adult motorists.

It is an offence to use fog lights unless visibility is reduced to 100m or less, and leaving them on inappropriately can bring a £30 fixed penalty notice.

Robin Reames, chief claims officer at Swiftcover.com, said: ‘Fog lights are designed for a very specific purpose – helping drivers to see and be seen when visibility is severely reduced’.

‘Misusing these lights has the effect of dazzling and distracting other motorists and causes a staggering number of crashes.’

Report by Tom Webster

[blearyeyedboy]

300,000 crashes? Backed up by the Chief Exec saying it's a staggering number?



I hate numpties who use foglights, but I don't believe those stats. Let me put that another way:

There are 30 million drivers in the UK. Do we really think that every year, 1% of those cause an accident purely because of their foglights? I don't buy that statistic.

[General Price]

I don't understand all the fuss about front foglights.On modern motors,they point down at the ground so I can't belive they dazzle 300,000 drivers.

Now misused rear fogs.I'm all for a public flogging.

[BlueJazz]

I would agree with you, the tone of the report almost suggests that if you see fog lights then you have an accident!

[SubaruSteve]

Crikey! It's going to be carnage now with all these daylight running led lights!

[TheHeretic]

Sorry, but I don't believe that number at all. Anyway, HIDs are far more blinding than foglights.

[BlueJazz]

God help us if you have both DRL's and fog lights on!

[motco]

General Price said:

I don't understand all the fuss about front foglights.On modern motors,they point down at the ground so I can't belive they dazzle 300,000 drivers.

Now misused rear fogs.I'm all for a public flogging.

I agree as well. I have never, that I can recall, been other than slightly irritated by front fogs, but have been really infuriated by rears on a wet and dark motorway. Any safety benefit provided by rear fogs is overwhelmed by the danger of their tendency to mimic brake lights IMHO.

[Hoofy]

Mmm. I wonder if the article writer is confusing front and rear fogs. You do get the occasional plank who has his rear fogs on when there was never a fog nor heavy, driving rain that evening.

[TheHeretic]

Hoofy said:

Mmm. I wonder if the article writer is confusing front and rear fogs. You do get the occasional plank who has his rear fogs on when there was never a fog nor heavy, driving rain that evening.

Not sure how a rear fog would cause an accident. If it is mistaken as a brake light, then the person behind will simply brake. Never been convinced by the glaring rear foggies thing either.

[blearyeyedboy]

Just to clarify about my previous post: I *do* believe it causes accidents when people are distracted. I just don't believe it's anywhere near the number that this report claims.

Ultimately, it's the sort of thing that true statistics will be almost impossible to collect. The sad bit is that when you quote a completely unbelievable statistic, you achieve the opposite of your aim. People will laugh at this and then the misuse of foglights will become a less serious matter in their minds.

[Baryonyx]

I do think fog lights are causing crashes. What sort bellend leaves front fogs on for vanity purposes?

Mind you, I think light pollution as a whole is an issue now on our roads. Many times I'll be out driving at night and a 4x4 will be behind me, and I'll be forced to slow down as the full 'cathedral of light' effect enters my car and obscures the road ahead. Mind you, the high headlights of these cars and the fact that they tend to follow recklessly close behind you means they are really to blame for the light pollution they cause.

[Maximum Bobs]

I think if people crash because they are distracted by front fogs the problem is with those people & not so much with the fog lights. How ever much annoying fogs are they are not dazzling enough to cause 300,000 accidents alone.

[bamberwell]

surely though the fact that a driver can't work out when and where to use fog lights means they don't have the intelligence to have a license in the first place? I drive down a lot of unlit country roads on the way to work,and there's always A car with dazzling fogs on or fogs and sidelights in the dark............

[okie592]

clearly never been to south wales, 1 in 3 cars always has its fogs on, im talking anything from a young man in a corsa, to a mum in a c4 picassio, to the business man in his A6 or 320d and your nan in her new nissan Quasqi and everything in between.

they love em and ive still not crashed off into a tree when ive seen them coming the other way

[Hoofy]

TheHeretic said:

Not sure how a rear fog would cause an accident. If it is mistaken as a brake light, then the person behind will simply brake. Never been convinced by the glaring rear foggies thing either.

I struggle to see how either fog lights cause accidents! The bright rear fogs do make things slightly more difficult to see but it's not like having a flood light in your face.

[0a]

I can honestly say I have never been affected by fog lights, I sometimes see the person coming the other way has them on but they never ‘blind me’. Mind you, I’m the same with people who sit on their brakes at lights. Perhaps when I get old (MBH) and cranky…

[zb]

blearyeyedboy said:

300,000 crashes? Backed up by the Chief Exec saying it's a staggering number?



I hate numpties who use foglights, but I don't believe those stats. Let me put that another way:

There are 30 million drivers in the UK. Do we really think that every year, 1% of those cause an accident purely because of their foglights? I don't buy that statistic.

On the face of it I don't either, but perhaps there's a correlation between st drivers and the fog-light on when it's completely unnecessary lot?

[0000]

Hoofy said:

TheHeretic said:

Not sure how a rear fog would cause an accident. If it is mistaken as a brake light, then the person behind will simply brake. Never been convinced by the glaring rear foggies thing either.

I struggle to see how either fog lights cause accidents! The bright rear fogs do make things slightly more difficult to see but it's not like having a flood light in your face.

Bright rear fogs mistaken for brake lights will mean the person behind will simply brake, at first. But then when the front car actually brakes the car behind will find it less obvious that they actually are braking this time.

[loafer123]

I hate front fogs being left on, especially in rain, but worse than that are maladjusted xenons - I had a new 911 behind me this week and his 5bn candlepower lights were literally beaming directly into my rear view and side mirrors and thence into my eyes.