RE: Sucky-to-the-Max (tm) US Lights

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.com.pl>]

I would argue a little. I use my projector beam fogs in good weather,
because they give much improvement in visibility. They also make great
DRLs. No one has flashed his highs on me yet, except for one person who
had one headlight bulb out and the other one seemed to be 30W or so.
Many people are driving here with their fogs on and I was never dazzled
nor even felt uncomfortable as far as these are correctly aimed, good
quality lights (especially projector beams or FFs) mounted where they
belong, eg. under the bumper (and not _on_ it). Of course, many people
here buy $7 lights where lens and reflector design as well as built
quality is a joke (what's worse, a very popular Polish car Polonez has
them as a factory equipment - the quality of these fog lights reflect
the quality of the whole car, I must admit :-( ). I really don't intend
to annoy people, but I think that increasing my night vision is a good
thing if I don't dazzle others. I think that the new Xenon lights found
on new E-class MBs and A8s, although legal, have higher "blind factor"
than my fogs. Of course, from the Police's point of view, it's like
speed limits: no matter if you drive a crappy car with poor brakes, poor
handling and poor tyres or if you drive an Audi ;-), the same speed
limit applies and no matter if you have some cheap crappy lights or
good, high quality correctly aimed ones, they're illegal. On the other
hand, I haven't been pulled over yet :-)

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.com.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Tom Nas [SMTP:tnas@euronet.nl]
> Sent:	Saturday, October 25, 1997 7:47 PM
> To:	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject:	Re: Sucky-to-the-Max (tm) US Lights
> 
> "Robert Myers" <rmyers@inetone.net> wrote:
> 
> >---snip happens---
> >>The news is that for this autumn, there's going to be a police
> crackdown on
> >>people who drive with their front foglights on in good weather.
> Alright!!
> >>
> >
> >I understand the problems with fog lights on crowded highways.  But,
> when
> >you drive some of the roads I do with switchbacks and narrow winding
> long
> >isolated stretches and with see another vehicle three times in fifty
> miles
> >type traffic, the fog lights provide added insurance that you
> actually
> >might get to see that deer before it steps in front of you.  I use my
> fog
> >lights along with the driving lights and any other light I can get
> under
> >these circumstances.  With no apologies.
> >
> >In more crowded traffic conditions they get turned off.
> 
> Agreed. As someone pointed out before though, fog lights have the beam
> pattern of DOT lights, which is generally not good for other road
> users.
> Lots of people here drive with their fog lights permanently on,
> because
> they think it looks cool, not because they need 'em.
> And I tend to get a little pissed off when some git's been driving
> behind
> me for miles with those irritating lights shining in my mirrors.
> 
> The latest craze here: driving around all day with your lights on high
> beam. Now *that's* irritating.
> 
> Tom
> 
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> _
>  Tom Nas                                          Zeist, The
> Netherlands
>  tnas@euronet.nl
> 1988 Audi 80 1.8S, Tizianrot metallic, 213,000km
> 
>     Time is the best teacher.  Unfortunately, it kills all its pupils.
>                                         -- Hector-Louis Berlioz
>