Motormouth: Some drivers don’t have the foggiest idea about the correct use of fog lights in Singapore

This motorist is so irritated by drivers who misuse their fog lights in Singapore.

[Story by guest columnist K.O Ng]

I am so irritated by drivers who misuse their fog lights in Singapore. These jokers like to drive around at night with their fog lights on. 

Are they imagining that they're stuck in a British moor on a foggy evening, or are they just clueless?

Maybe it's their strange urge to use every item that a car comes equipped with to its maximum potential. Maybe they want to show off the fact that their precious cars have factory-fitted fog lights. Or maybe they think it's cool to have what looks like four headlamps beaming out the front of their cars instead of the usual two. 

Yet, any motorist with average motoring knowledge (or a respectable automotive journo with above-average know-how) who sees such cars approaching from a distance on local roads knows that it's just plain silly. 

Fog lights are designed to be intensely bright and are aimed down to the ground. 

The reason is simple, and anyone who has driven through real fog can tell you why – real fog tends to scatter light rays that are pointed straight into it, leaving you to drive into a bright, illuminated cloud with almost no forward visibility. 

Front-mounted fog lights are placed just above ground level to illuminate the road, not the fog that you are driving through. Their brightness also serves to warn drivers in approaching vehicles who may not be able to notice your car through the fog or mist. 

As for rear-mounted red fog lights (whether single or a pair), these are designed to be much brighter than standard tail-lights for the same purpose. 

They can even be used in daytime should the situation require it, such as in a torrential downpour that reduces driving visibility to a dangerously low level. 

On Singapore’s well-lit roads, fog lights are useful only in extremely heavy rain and not much else. 

Their low-angled light beams cannot illuminate reflective road signs far ahead for a driver to react in time, unlike regular headlights which shine much farther down the road and can highlight road signs on dark roads much earlier than low-mounted fog lights. 

The brightness from front fog lights which are misused is also a distraction to anybody coming from the opposite direction. Rear fog lights which are misused also distract everybody behind with a direct line of sight to the rear of the vehicle with the irritating driver. 

Dear motorists, remember this – fog lights are installed as a satety feature and are not intended to replace the main headlights.

Be a responsible road user and only turn on your fog lights when they are needed for safer driving. 

Rear fog lights being used correctly, in an actual fog.

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