Fog light rant!

[Iceman299]

I get the feeling that you don't like foglights

[Piggy]

What gave that impression?

[Frosty]

Tbh I drive round most of the time in the dark on dip beam. Too many people like to forget they have main beam on or are too keen to put main beam on when not actually passed

[Piggy]

that does seem to be a new trend...or is it just me and frosty?...
The car passing you puts main beam on before its passed so you get a lovely bright flash just as they pass!

[Dum-Dum]

I've got to say i do agree, the clue is in the name

Fog Lights are lights for when its foggy
Indicators are for indicating what you might be about to do
Head lights are for seeing ahead
etc

[Toms306]

I've noticed that recently as well! Tbh I cant be bothered with switching main beam on and off so don't really bother, it would be so easy to incorporate it into auto lights though, so they switch off with oncoming headlights and on again after. I often panic seeing another car, thinking ive got full beams on so turn them 'off' which ends up blinding the poor guy coming the other way, fail haha.

[Niall]

I've noticed that recently as well!  Tbh I cant be bothered with switching main beam on and off so don't really bother, it would be so easy to incorporate it into auto lights though, so they switch off with oncoming headlights and on again after.  I often panic seeing another car, thinking ive got full beams on so turn them 'off' which ends up blinding the poor guy coming the other way, fail haha.

Ive never seen a auto high beam system yet that works well enough not to blind people on coming!

[Toms306]

Tech is always moving on though!

[Niall]

It is but driving is just getting lazy. Its not difficult to use a switch and a human is always going to be more intelligent than a computer.
IMO all these driving aids are getting a bit silly now and making the driving skill in this country worse and worse.

[Toms306]

Its nothing to with intelligence, if you spend half an hour driving B roads in the dark with full beams on you've probably forgotten they're on when you next see an oncoming car.

[Niall]

Its nothing to with intelligence, if you spend half an hour driving B roads in the dark with full beams on you've probably forgotten they're on when you next see an oncoming car.

Yeah youre right. You would of forgotten they are on.....if you are lazy. Again, its something you should be KNOWING is happening. You need a certain level of intelligence and concentration to drive properly and that is now dropping due to these silly aids that dont often work all that well anyway!

[Toms306]

Or you should be focussing on the road and potential hazards rather than worrying about lights and wipers and speed limits and shit...

Each to their own I guess though.

[Piggy]

You would have forgotten!?!?!

Eh?! put aside driver attention, what about the bright blue light on the dash'?!?'?!'.",!?!?!!

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If you're "worrying" about lights and wipers....please hang your driving keys up and send your licence back

[Toms306]

So you're staring at the dash rather than the road? Brilliant... Exactly my point about focus being taken from the road lol...

[Niall]

Or you should be focussing on the road and potential hazards rather than worrying about lights and wipers and speed limits and shit...

Each to their own I guess though.

You should be concentrating on the road, potential hazards AND what you and your car are doing. You are potentially creating a hazard if you have your high beam on....or fog lights!
Sorry Tom but its utter bull shit having to rely on these systems. They do not make for safer driving. They make for lazier driving which in its self is substantially less safer than driving with no aids but concentrating.

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So you're staring at the dash rather than the road?  Brilliant...  Exactly my point about focus being taken from the road lol...

That is genuinely concerning if you believe that Tom and you need to redo your driving licence if you believe that. Part of being safe is not just looking ahead. Its looking all around including at your dash at certain intervals. How the hell do you know how fast you are going if you dont look at the dash? Or if your car is over heating? If you have enough fuel to continue your journey or have to make a planned stop/detour?
You are genuinely starting to worry me lately Tom!

[Iceman299]

So you're staring at the dash rather than the road?  Brilliant...  Exactly my point about focus being taken from the road lol...

Why have the speedo etc there at all, if it takes people's focus off the road?

[Piggy]

if you need to stare at your dash at night to notice a very bright blue warning light (no other light on your oem dash is blue by the way) then again, shouldnt be driving.

I hate modern gadgets that take away the need for driver input...March Road Rant sorted

The only modern gadget I like is the autodim rear view mirror, just wish it did the wingmirrors too. It works, stops you needing to take your hands away from the wheel and is adaptive to different light.

[Niall]

The one that pisses me off the most is Audi's hazard awareness system. A camera on the road, showing up on your dash and it puts a reg ring around people. What the actual f*ck!! If people need that, they shouldnt be allowed near a road let alone a car.

[Toms306]

It takes a second or so to re-focus your eyes between a lit dash and dark night, its surprising what can happen in that time. I've had a couple of experiences within the last few months that were damn close because of that, one was a deer jumping from the side of the road as I was looking at the dash, the other was a cyclist in black on a dark B road that I only saw at the last minute as I looked back up. Since those I'd much rather watch the road at night than the dash!

You roughly know how fast you're going, but I usually stick cruise on anyway so not an issue (oh no more driver aids ). If the car was overheating enough to cause damage it'd smell, cooking headgasket stinks lol, oh and it'd beep (more driver aids). I have enough fuel because unless it leaks out, I check at the start of the journey and know how long the route is.

Maybe I'm not coming across right, wouldn't be any change there, but its amazing how quickly things can happen, and sods law it'll be while you're doing something else!

[Iceman299]

As Drake would say, started at fog lights now we're here lol
Turned into a proper rant thread!

[Toms306]

if you need to stare at your dash at night to notice a very bright blue warning light (no other light on your oem dash is blue by the way) then again, shouldnt be driving.

I hate modern gadgets that take away the need for driver input...March Road Rant sorted

The only modern gadget I like is the autodim rear view mirror, just wish it did the wingmirrors too. It works, stops you needing to take your hands away from the wheel and is adaptive to different light.

They do do auto dim wing mirrors, as said above the Vectra had one back in 2006! But that's exactly the same with auto lights or wipers...when it gets dark/rains they come on without any driver input...you've just gone against your own argument.

[Niall]

Sorry but i genuinely think you're a dangerous driver. Its either, you feel you don't want to do what every other driver does such as looking at your dash and focus your attention on the road because you are at the edge or past your comfort zone. If this is the case, you need to give your licence back because as soon as something on the road goes wrong which does happen, you wont be able to cope and you will be a liability and a hazard.
Or....You're just lazy and cant be bothered to drive properly in which case again, you should send your licence back!

[Toms306]

As Drake would say, started at fog lights now we're here lol
Turned into a proper rant thread!

Lol after seeing that poor excuse for a rant in the video thought I'd put a proper rant in... I'd have a daily one rather than monthly though.

[Piggy]

Yeh! We need a rant thread section! Haha

Tbh, I'm not saying I'm perfect. But in my 306 which I obviously know well, I don't need to glance down to see speed/gauges/warning lights. I can see whats happening in my peripheral vision of the gauges.

And again, how can you NOT notice, WITHOUT looking down, a very bright blue light on your dash! On a real dark night I dim my dash lights and its so bright it bugs me!

That Audi system is simply stupid, well its clever, but should not be fitted to any car with a driver. Although...Audi drivers...maybe they should fit a "being a cock" gauge! Haha

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The 307 autodim mirror on my 306 doesnt go dark unless its dark AND theres bright lights behind.
Sounds like the vauxhall one was just rubbish. And in which case, I dont like them if they dont work properly!

[1616six]

Sorry but i genuinely think you're a dangerous driver.

Glad I'm not the only one thinking this.

Tom I'm not sure if it's because the focus has given you a confidence boost but a few things you've said in the past few days have shocked me about you & driving!

[bashbarnard]

Having fog lights on is a 60 quid on the spot fine where I live. No ifs or buts if its not foggy your fined. They use it a lot on the idiotic Gary boys that do laps of the town centre.

[Toms306]

Yeh! We need a rant thread section! Haha

Tbh, I'm not saying I'm perfect. But in my 306 which I obviously know well, I don't need to glance down to see speed/gauges/warning lights. I can see whats happening in my peripheral vision of the gauges.

And again, how can you NOT notice, WITHOUT looking down, a very bright blue light on your dash! On a real dark  night I dim my dash lights and its so bright it bugs me!

That Audi system is simply stupid, well its clever, but should not be fitted to any car with a driver. Although...Audi drivers...maybe they should fit a "being a cock" gauge! Haha

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The 307 autodim mirror on my 306 doesnt go dark unless its dark AND theres bright lights behind.
Sounds like the vauxhall one was just rubbish. And in which case, I dont like them if they dont work properly!

No we don't need a rant section, people whingeing constantly just depresses other people. Yes, I know.

Maybe you have more peripheral vision, I certainly cant see dash lights in mine. I cant even see the big red stop light pop up on the 306 unless I'm looking at the dash at the time.

The wing mirror on the Vectra worked with the auto dim mirror, they both ran off the same system, not sure what you think is wrong with it? Its the Focus without the auto-dim wingmirror.

Sorry but i genuinely think you're a dangerous driver.

Glad I'm not the only one thinking this.

Tom I'm not sure if it's because the focus has given you a confidence boost but a few things you've said in the past few days have shocked me about you & driving!

Lol, if anything the Focus has made me a much safer driver! No speeding, not fast enough to make dodgy overtakes, much more concentration on the road due to cruise and other driver aids. The GTi6 on the other hand, I'm amazed its not in a hedge yet...

Think what you like, but have you never thought about the massive diversity of people on the road? Many with different perceptions, many taught differently, many with health problems, many in different life situations, many in emergencies, etc. I did write out a large reply to Nialls post but wont bother as I can see my opinions/perceptions are clearly not coming across in the right way. Main just is, I've thought about giving up driving many times and probably will if I ever move to town, I know I'm not a model driver, but after analysing the diversity of drivers on the road, and adding some perspective, I'm really not the worst person out there. You are of course entitled to your own opinions.

[Niall]

You're missing the point Tom. Yes there is a huge diversity of people on the roads but there is a minimum standard to the skill of these people. If theres not, they should have that skill improved or the privilege of driving removed. Simple. You're basically saying you feel unsafe doing basic tasks like turning on/off lights or looking at your dash. Now, you're fortunate enough (depending on how you look at it i suppose) to have a car that does some of these things automatically but what happens if you crash your car and have a basic hire car for a few weeks without these things? Then you're outside your comfort zone and therefore dangerous to other road users, therefore below the minimum training level.
And i'm not just aiming this at you. Unfortunately, there are lots of people on the roads these days like this, some not as bad and some much worse and this is why the standard of driving in this country is getting progressively worse. People just dont know how to drive anymore!

[Seb_Ryan]

^^^ +1 only mod cons that are good are dual zone climate control, heated seats, and cruise control tbh

[Toms306]

You're missing the point Tom. Yes there is a huge diversity of people on the roads but there is a minimum standard to the skill of these people. If theres not, they should have that skill improved or the privilege of driving removed. Simple. You're basically saying you feel unsafe doing basic tasks like turning on/off lights or looking at your dash. Now, you're fortunate enough (depending on how you look at it i suppose) to have a car that does some of these things automatically but what happens if you crash your car and have a basic hire car for a few weeks without these things? Then you're outside your comfort zone and therefore dangerous to other road users, therefore below the minimum training level.
And i'm not just aiming this at you. Unfortunately, there are lots of people on the roads these days like this, some not as bad and some much worse and this is why the standard of driving in this country is getting progressively worse. People just dont know how to drive anymore!

You're taking it out of proportion/perspective I think. I have owned and do own a car with next to no driver aids...it does take away some concentration to operate certain controls, whether that's eyes off the road or hands off the wheel, I don't know how you can deny that? I'm not saying I couldn't drive without them there, obviously I can and do, but if there's a safer option available, why would you actively avoid that? Really annoys me when people do things like removing ABS, yeah 9 times out of 10 maybe they don't lock up on a wet corner coming across a hazard...but personally I'd like to have that safety net, for everyone else as much as myself, for the 10th time when you're not at full concentration for whatever reason, and I guarantee no-one is at full concentration/ability for 100% of the time. You also don't know how you'll react in a crisis situation until you're in one.

How do you plan to implement this removing licences due to lack of skill? It amazes me how some of my Nans friends drive to hers, theres one old lady in particular, she cant walk more than a few steps, can barely see, can barely hear....yet she's still allowed to drive her 1 tonne killing machine (albeit at 15mph everywhere with lots of clutch slip and just 'parking' where she likes) in a public area and past the village school every day... Now compared to that I'm a long way off lol. Not only that, but you've got terminally ill people still driving...my Grandad died walking through the front door...after a 20 minute drive from the supermarket!! About a month ago another of my Nans friends was in a car crash...her husband was driving and died at the wheel! Its all very well talking about basic skill, but anything can happen to anyone at any time to cause accidents. The licence really only proves you're at a basic level for one day. This is what I mean by diversity, if you remove every possible hazard from the road, there would be no-one left.