Last year I expounded on the usefulness of amber turn signals, rear fog lights, blacking out tail lights, tinting over the CHMSL and the modifying of headlights. Today I drove to work in the fog at it appears to me that things have got worse:
1 Amber turn signals are becoming even more rare as even cars built in countries that only have amber are marketing red turn signals for the USA.
2 Rear fog lights have still not been mandated and it seems that no manufacturer is willing to enhance their safety presence by adding them. Again, the EU manufacturers take them off of their cars that are exported to the USA.
3 Not only do cars not have the rear fog light but some people tint or "blacken" their tail lights so that their visability to others is drastically reduced.
4 Putting tint on the rear window and covering the CHMSL negates its usefullness.
5 Adding incorrect bulbs, over wattage bulbs, HID's in reflectors, too higher Kelvin bulbs are usually another recipe for disaster in the fog.

I am all for enhancements to performance and safety, particularly if the cost for the gain is reasonable but some of the mods on this forum are of dubious advantage when driving in the real world of inclement weather of reduced visability. Points 1 and 2 could extend your lifespan with minimal cost and the last 3 points will definitely reduce it.

When I drove in the fog this morning I was driving as fast as the visability would allow but that assumes a certain luminosity coming from the bulbs that I am looking for. If you reduce your appearance or indicate with a dim red bulb then you can expect the worst. If you modify your headlights so that most of what you are iluminating is fog then, again, you can expect the worst.

 

So... moral of the story is no driving pimp status whips in the fog.

Got it.

 

What

i am lost with ur story lol

 

At the risk of sounding like an ass, are you going somewhere with this?

 

if you're really worried about your safety, then go buy a rear fog light from ebay and mod it into your rear bumper and your good. if you dont do this then you really dont care.

 

^ He isn't worried about getting rear-ended; he's worried about rear ending someone.

db, I thought a car's primary function was impressing my friends at cars shows. Driving to work to support my materialism is simply an unfortunate consequence.



I'm pretty sure the last two are illegal in TX.

 

It is amazing to me that so many people don't get it. All of the points regarding lighting are for the OTHER cars that enable YOU to drive safer ultimately decreasing your odds of being in an accident.
When you are driving your car YOU cannot see your non differentiating red turn signals, your rear fog light, your reduced visability tail lights, your dimly lit CHMSL or your widely dispersed annoying (to others) headlights.

 

I agree with a lot of what you're saying here, BUT I'm pretty sure there are laws around most of the things you mention (except red turn signals). Ultimately, it's up to local law enforcement to go after these things. 99% of the time, they don't have time to go after some guy with tinted tail lights or super bright HID's. Or it's not enough of a financial gain to go after a "fix it" ticket, versus say, a 10 over speeding ticket which is more likely to stick even if the driver takes it to court.

Mind you, I know they can pull you over because I've had a friend get pulled over and get a "fix it" citation for HID's and tinted tails..

 

Here in CA the fix it ticket now comes with a fine because people would fix it for the sign-off and then go back to the way it was. Of course a sign-off is a joke because all you have to do is get a law enforcement signature and that was from either a cop friend or going to the cop-shop and they never checked if it was fixed or not.

 

Why should it be the responsibility of law enforcement, not the people's, to ensure that people do what's best for the safety of themselves and those around them?

 

because California.

 

If you left it to the people then we wouldn't need a government and then they would all be out of work so then we would need a government to disperse the funds from the people to the people!
Don't forget that the government is there for their benefit, not ours.

 

How many people would you trust to regulate themselves?

 

Fair enough. Valid point.

 

Well we know how good government is at regulating things, so I'll take my chances.

 

There is some truth to what you are saying, BUT, how many unsafe mods do you see on a daily basis? I, for one, see/get blinded by 8K HID's at least once a day. And mind you, I drive a whopping 15 miles to and from work every day.

 

you know, if 8k lights are ruining the world they should be regulated like drugs, alcohol, and tobacco... 18/21 to purchase and create and HID task force.

 

Sure

 

8K lights are regulated, it's just that the regulators (police) only have pre-printed tickets for speeding.

 

red text.

 

and Blue lights

 

and orange jump suits.

 

and pink socks.

 

and Amber turn signals?

 

Tints on da lens?

 

And chrome spinners.

 

 

well that took an odd turn...