Car Fog Lights

The most important factor of safe driving is a car with a good lighting system. It is important that the driver is able to see clearly the road ahead of him. With a good lighting system the driver is also well aware of his surroundings and the cars that are ahead and behind him.

The lighting system of an automobile consists of lights mounted in the front, rear or sides of the vehicle. The purpose of a vehicle lighting system is to provide illumination to the driver to operate the vehicle safely after dark and to inform other vehicles about the presence, size, direction and speed of a particular vehicle. Head lights only provide light at night but fog lights can penetrate fog and hence show the road ahead more clearly.

An automobile in incorporated with different kind of lighting systems. They could be Headlamps, Driving lamps and Front Fog lamps.

Car fog lights are usually mounted in or below the front bumper. They are intended for use at low speed to increase the illumination directed towards a particular road surface which has poor light or whether conditions. They are aimed towards the ground out in front of the vehicle as far as possible. Car fog lights generally have clear or yellow lenses. The color of the fog light is an important factor since the degree of light penetration also depends to a large extent on the color of the fog light. The penetration power of the red is the highest so red is the color that is best suited for dire weather conditions. In mist or fog a red light is visible from a longer distance as compared to other colors.

The rays created by fog lights are wide and flat in pattern. The flat rays help the vehicle to stay close to the road surface and minimize reflection back by fog. The wide rays help to illuminate the sides of the roads.

Ordinary driving lights are generally bright spot lights meant to provide light especially during night. Since it gets dark at night driving without light is impossible. While fog lights are a step ahead because they provide light in foggy weather conditions. Both driving and fog lights are mounted low or below the front bumper whereas head lights are mounted above the bumper of the vehicle.

There are different types of fog lights available in the market. There are halogen lights and high intensity discharge lamps based lights. Mercury, or Sodium, or Halides are used in these lamps.

Last Updated on 1/9/2012