Foglights on the hard shoulder

[arcturus]

Lighting requirements (113-116)
113

You MUST

ensure all sidelights and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise
use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified
use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226)

Night (the hours of darkness) is defined as the period between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise).

[Laws RVLR regs 3, 24, & 25, (In Scotland - RTRA 1984 sect 82 (as amended by NRSWA, para 59 of sched 8))]

Driving in adverse weather conditions (226-237)

114

You MUST NOT

use any lights in a way which would dazzle or cause discomfort to other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders
use front or rear fog lights unless visibility is seriously reduced. You MUST switch them off when visibility improves to avoid dazzling other road users (see Rule 226)

[Marty Dolomite]

Originally Posted by owyn

I just wanted peoples opinions.


The police have flashing high power reds showing when on the hard shoulder which often include wig wag fog lights.

Any thoughts? It seems like a good idea but would have thought have been illeagal by the letter of the law.

The reason why the police use reds now is that real life tests showed that when drivers see flasing blues ahead they panic brake becuas they think there is an incident whereas when they see read they just slow down.

[Marty Dolomite]

I have amber flahsing wigwag lights on the rear and strobes on the front of the Focus but this is more so I can use the car for incident response and abit over the top tof it just incase you might breakdown.

[owyn]

So if they present a hazard how come the police have them on? They are v noticeable when on the hard shoulder and I've never doubted what was happening.
I must admit I'm in the 'light up as much as poss' camp.

The guy doing it on the hard shoulder impressed me with how easily it got picked out.

[Marty Dolomite]

Originally Posted by owyn

So if they present a hazard how come the police have them on? They are v noticeable when on the hard shoulder and I've never doubted what was happening.
I must admit I'm in the 'light up as much as poss' camp.

The guy doing it on the hard shoulder impressed me with how easily it got picked out.

The police do not have fog lights lit on the hard shoulder, read my post where i explian why they have flashing reds as apposed to just blues.

Lighting up as much a possibly can be more dangerous as you are dazzling onconing traffic which then caues it to slow or even stop, a solid red light can be mistaken for a stop light and some motorways have these on slip roads!
I speak from experiance as I spend a lot of my day on the motorways picking up stranded cars.

[V70Driver]

I would disagree, whether the red lights are flashing or static, police car or not, it will have the same effect of dazzling. In some cases the stroboscobic effect of flashing wig wag lights can be as distracting. If you drive and panic brake when you see flashing blue lights would indicate nervous driver. If I see bright red lights, flashing or static I would be prepared to decelerate, brake, change lanes until I could see and establish what the red lights are for and then take appropriate action.

While I am aware of the rules pertaining to the HWC and the use of fog lights in normal weather, if putting the fog light on while on the hard shoulder aids safety, I certainly would do it.

V70Driver

Originally Posted by Marty Dolomite

The police do not have fog lights lit on the hard shoulder, read my post where i explian why they have flashing reds as apposed to just blues.

Lighting up as much a possibly can be more dangerous as you are dazzling onconing traffic which then caues it to slow or even stop, a solid red light can be mistaken for a stop light and some motorways have these on slip roads!
I speak from experiance as I spend a lot of my day on the motorways picking up stranded cars.

[owyn]

Originally Posted by Marty Dolomite

The police do not have fog lights lit on the hard shoulder, read my post where i explian why they have flashing reds as apposed to just blues.

Lighting up as much a possibly can be more dangerous as you are dazzling onconing traffic which then caues it to slow or even stop, a solid red light can be mistaken for a stop light and some motorways have these on slip roads!
I speak from experiance as I spend a lot of my day on the motorways picking up stranded cars.

I understand about not dazzling drivers but this guy didn't dazzle me, he just made himself v visible.

Also the police do have foglights lit, they have them wired into the rear reds on the light bar, its why my ex plodder has a special socket for the fog lights.

All interesting stuff though, it does seem that more light is better when on the hard shoulder, hence vehicles that frequent the shoulder have extra lighting, normally flashing.

It just made me think. Thanks for the replies, good debate!

[V70Driver]

That is the point, lights are not just so you can see, they are there so you can be SEEN.
V70Driver

[stephend]

Problem is, if people start applying their own rules, as opposed to the official ones, then it gets mighty confusing.

It's the like the use of flashing the headlights. Official usage, of course, is simply to warn others of your presence. Unofficial usages range from "I'm letting you through", through "thank you", to "get out of my ****ing way you ****ing moron", and you have to figure out which one it is. I do know that if you flash your headlamps to let somebody through, and it leads to an accident, you may be held partly to blame.

So whatever the advantages of using fogs on the hard shoulder may or may not be, I personally would stick to hazard flashers only. That way, I know I'm not responsible if an accident does happen.

[owyn]

Originally Posted by stephend

Problem is, if people start applying their own rules, as opposed to the official ones, then it gets mighty confusing.

It's the like the use of flashing the headlights. Official usage, of course, is simply to warn others of your presence. Unofficial usages range from "I'm letting you through", through "thank you", to "get out of my ****ing way you ****ing moron", and you have to figure out which one it is. I do know that if you flash your headlamps to let somebody through, and it leads to an accident, you may be held partly to blame.

So whatever the advantages of using fogs on the hard shoulder may or may not be, I personally would stick to hazard flashers only. That way, I know I'm not responsible if an accident does happen.

It's a good point and I think is the crux of it, although it may help its also probably illegal. In theme time I'll be wearing my hi viz and staying out the car.
That and not drive a French car.