When To Use Your Fog Lights

If you've ever driven through a thick layer of fog, you should surely know NOT to use your vehicle's high beam headlights. You should avoid making this silly mistake because the headlights flash directly into the fog, reflecting the light right back in your face, making it more challenging to see. 

As the name implies, your car's fog lights are intended to be used so that you can see better while operating your vehicle through heavy fog, mist, snow, and even sand and dust. Fog lights are separate from regular headlights, which have high-beam and low-beam functions.

The difference in these lights is primarily their shape. Fog lights are bar-shaped and aimed sharply toward the ground, providing short-range clarity only just in front of your vehicle. By aiming downward, fog lights eliminate the glare caused by regular headlights, allowing you to see adequately in fog. By contrast, the usual high- and low-beam lights aim straight ahead, lighting up the road to a longer distance. 

It's crucial to note that, because fog lights provide luminosity for only a small distance in front of your vehicle, you should always move slowly when deploying them. However, you should know to do so in limited-visibility circumstances anyway.

If your vehicle isn't equipped with fog lights, we highly recommend using your low beams in rain, snow, or even fog to improve visibility. Low beams provide sufficient short-range visibility if you drive in the city at night, which is all you need in city driving.

Having damaged or insufficient headlights can be daunting when driving on wet or dark roads. Though vehicle lights aren't the first thing people think of for vehicle maintenance, we heavily rely on these lights to keep us and others on the road safe. If you encounter malfunctioning headlights (or fog lights), please have them diagnosed and fixed immediately. We welcome you to give us a call or visit Accomplished Auto today.