joseph mitro

i've now been stopped twice by the local police - once in the M3 and once in the 944S - saying i cannot drive with the foglights on. i have not received a ticket, just a warning. but this is bordering on harrassment.

i know every state has different laws, but i'm wondering if anybody else has this problem.

wombat7

If you were just driving with the fogs and park lights on then it was illegal. If you had your headlights on then I don't know what their problem is...

joseph mitro

headlights were on.

Mighty Shilling

that's crap. if foglights were illegal, they wouldn't be equipped on so many cars.

Charlotte944

Most states say that running the fog lights when the head lights are on high beams is against the law. but I have never heard of getting stopped for having the fogs on when the head lights are on low beams. As a point of reference, the fog lights should get turned off automatically when you hit the high beams.

I would call or visit a a local precinct and ask to see the specific statute/ordinance.

Rich Sandor

look up the SPECIFIC laws of your state and county. go the the library or DMV and look it up, so that you know what you have and cannot have lit up, and if you are legal and get harassed, you can throw the book at the cop. Also, sometimes police confuse the foglights with the highbeams. (of course it is illegal in most places to drive around with your highbeams on with oncoming traffic..)

I drive around with just my fog lights and parking lights on, from dawn till dusk, and I've NEVER been hassled. I live in the city so even at night the foglight / parking light combo is enough to keep you visible. (Although I always put up the headlights when outside the city in the dark)

Rich Sandor

That is the KEY phrase. As I stated, the officer probably thought your fogs were in highbeams, or that your headlights were on highbeam. All you have to do to stay legal is show him that if you flash your highbeams - the fogs go out!

Blue S2

Ive noticed that on my GTI about the fogs off when highbeams go on, but why is that??? The stock foglights barely do anything. (thats why i added a second pair down below...) Whats the big deal to have high beams on WITH foglights? More light the merrier! As long as no one is coming. Wouldnt you want to illuminate the immediate from and sides while the high beams illuminate at a distance???

nine-44

I've never had problems with lows and fogs, I did get stopped for fogs and marker lights tho, no headlights. I showed him they worked and he let me go.

BeerBurner

I've never been stopped for fog lights, whether the headlights were on or not. Now, I have been stopped for driving with my headlights on, but that guy was just an idiot.

BB.

garthfan

Blue,

Most of these statutes have arisen because of folks who like to blind people as a way of either getting back at them for not lowering their beams to oncoming traffic, or to let someone know that you didn't like the way they passed you or otherwise "wronged" you. I guess the idea is that your high beams from the factory are "sufficient" to illuminate the area ahead of you so you don't need extra illumination.

Also, since they teach you that it is actually better to drive in dense fog with your low beams cutting under the fog -and since most foglights are positioned as low to the ground as possible for just that reason- they figure that you really just shouldn't have them on with the high beams.

The other point of contention -from the police point of view- is that most laws make little or no distinction between factory foglights and add-on foglights. So, while factory lights may be low-power/low-angle fixtures, a lot of aftermarket setups that are normally designed for off-road use are being put on street vehicles, angled rather high and wired into an independant toggle switch so that they work any time the driver wants. Hence, the apparent "need" for foglight legislation.

thesmokingman

My WRX did that do, until I re-wired it. I think it has to do with not overloading the stock wiring/electrical system.

My hids shutoff with the brights too, but I didn't re-wire those as the loads might be too high and melt stuff.

garthfan

As a footnote, I was searching the statutes for my home state (New Hampshire) and found that the law is as you guys were saying, i.e., foglights may come on with low beams but must extinguish with high beams and must be aimed at a certain maximum height, etc., etc..

Porsche-O-Phile

That's a load of crap too. As far as I know you can burn the fog lights and the parking lights as well; I do it all the time. I'm not 100% on this but I believe the vehicle code says that vehicles at night or in rain must display "approved forward-facing white lights" or something to that effect.

garthfan

Yeah, Jeff, I think you're right to an extent. I'd have to research a bit more, but I think that as long as the foglights are factory installed and deemed legal during state inspection then they might be okay to use as a headlight replacement. But if I remember correctly, aftermarket foglights can only be used as a headlight replacement in the event that a plow or some other legal vehicle attachment renders the factory headlights useless. I'll look into it, but then again I can only tell you the laws of my own state. My next door neighbor's a cop; I suppose I can just ask him. lol

BTW Jeff, are you originally from New England???? Go SOX!