Do fog lights work?
2008-08-21

         Fog lights don't come standard on some cars, those that do have an edge on safety and visibility. Fog lights are the lights mounted on the front of a car or truck which help visibility in foggy or misty conditions. They come in a variety of colors and intensities, but virtually all vehicles have them, and their assistance can be crucial to navigating poor weather. Anywhere you are in the world rash weather conditions is inevitable. When driving in such conditions it is necessary to be able to control your vehicles drive and poor visibility would be such a deterrent. A fog light is definitely a good investment.  

       Have you ever experienced driving through, snow, sleet, intense rains, deep set fogs? You can quite easily lose control of your vehicle and end up in a dangerous or even life-threatening accident. Fog lights are designed to help you prevent accidents caused by visibility problems like these. Generally, headlights will reflect off dense fog, creating more of a visibility problem than you already had. Fog lights emit a specialized beam to cut through the fog, penetrating harsh weather, and enabling you a better and safer field of vision.   

     It is not just your safety that's on the line, when you are able to see the road divisions, the road signs and the coming vehicles; you can adjust your driving and prevent any critical danger to you and to the other motorists. Any given snowy, foggy or rainy night can turn into a disaster because low visibility in these conditions can maximize the potential of danger. Rough weather conditions call for precision driving, Using and installing fog lights can help you be seen better by other cars, and make sure that you can see them. Be a responsible driver by using fog lights to help light your way, and make you more aware of others.   

     There are many available fog lights in the market, the most common are the rear and front fog lights. Some trucks have them mounted on their tops for wider reach of the road. Front fog lights penetrate through rain, fog and snow, unlike the standard headlights which only reflect and create a white haze in front of our visibility which may cause loss of vision. Most especially on early mornings or late in the evening, front fog lights can increase your vision significantly. Even if your vehicle was not sold with fog lights, you can purchase and install fog lights almost anywhere. Front fog lights are one of the best investments you can make for your safety and your vehicle. Rear fog lights help you to be seen by cars behind you. There are certain regulations though on the intensity of their brightness since they may cause blindness to the vehicles behind you, this is because such fog lights may be 30 times brighter than your regular rear lights.  

      Traditionally fog lights are yellow, and the reason why is the subject of some speculation. A common claim is that they need to be a single color light rather than white light, to minimize dispersion as the light hits the water vapor and scatters in different directions. It is often said that though red might be a more ideal color, it already has connotations to drivers —- it is used for both stop lights and brake lights. Yellow, then, would seem to be the next-most-suitable choice, because it has the next longest wavelength of visible light.  

     The problem with this idea, which sounds plausible scientifically, has to do with the size of the water molecules in fog. The molecules of water vapor are large enough that dispersion does not occur in any meaningful way, making the wavelength of the light irrelevant. It is possible that the first car companies to utilize fog lights were not aware of the impact that the size of water vapor molecules would have on the dispersion, and so believed that by choosing yellow lights they were minimizing the blur the fog lights cast. More likely is that yellow was chosen because of its connotations in the West with caution. Yellow lights and yellow signs are used to indicate that a driver should slow, look for obstacles, generally use increased levels of caution -- precisely the activities one wants other drivers to exercise when driving in heavy fog.  

      Many modern fog lights are halogen lights, which allows them to burn at much hotter temperatures than traditional lights, while retaining a low burnout rate. Halogen fog lights tend to have a tighter beam than incandescent fog lights, which yields an additional benefit. A special class of fog lights which were seen on some newer cars are high-intensity discharge lamps. These lights may use a number of different minerals to operate, including mercury, sodium and halide. These fog lights are often distinguished by a purplish hue, rather than the more traditional yellow color. In this modern society, it’s very simple to install a halogen fog lights. Here is the guide for you:

        First, purchase kit from a vehicle parts store makes sure the year make and model of the vehicle is given to receive the most accurate kit for the car. If the vehicle identification number is available give this number to the clerk.  

      Second, once you have the correct kit open the kit spread all of the materials out onto a surface that you can see everything in front of you. The Fog lights must be mounted to the metal part of the bumper. Inside the kit there should be brackets with nuts and bolts.   

    At last, the ground wire will be mounted to metal bracket. The Hot wire must be connected to the on and off switch wire. Once the wires are connected mount the fog lights inside the fog light brackets and tighten with the drill to make sure the lights are secure.