I certainly share your opinion of fog lights. There is absolutely no standard for fog lights in the U.S. Certainly they cannot have any useful function for the user except when alone in foggy darkness. Limits exist in Europe, and fog light are usefully directed down and to the sides to provide non-reflecting illumination at fairly low speeds.
Again, fog or any forward-facing lights do not appear to reduce accidents in the U.S. during the daytime regardless the time of day, even at twilight, according to the most recent NHTSA analysis, which, you should understand, reverses the widely-critized conclusions of its earlier 2000 study.
Please also understand that no one disputes that forward-facing lights render a vehicle more conspicuous at a distance. The issue is whether this conspicuousness reduces accidents by increasing decision visibility at a point prior to that of an unlited vehicle. Ordinarily, that point is about 70 yards, the time it generally takes a car to stop from 60 mph. Intuitively and apparently demonstratively it does not in the U.S. On the contrary, evidence tends to support the hypothesis that the lights increase the likelihood of crashes with pedestrians and cyclists by reducing their visibility, a tragic consequence.
I understand that proponents of lights simply conclude that they believe, as an article of faith, that lights work. This puts the matter beyond science, and I cannot dispute it.
Thanks for considering this issue.
Bill
Today
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