Fog lamps are usually mistaken to be a selective auxiliary lighting source in a vehicle, and people tend to interchange the purpose of the same. Fog lamps are a safety feature that are intended to illuminate the surface and verges of the road and aid to better visibility while driving in bad weather conditions.
The head lamps of a vehicle are placed much higher than the contour of the road, and in bad weather conditions, the light tends to scatter a lot, thus reducing the adequate illumination on the road despite of switching to a low beam. So, for this purpose, fog lamps are designed to be fitted in the front bumper of the vehicle to provide effective illumination on road.
These are less powerful than the headlights so as to be used as a helping aid and not a full time light source. They are meant to be used at low speeds during low visibility situations and work pretty well to solve the purpose they are built for.
In many countries with harsh climatic conditions, fog lamps are mandatory to be factory fitted as a safety feature. Moreover, many vehicles feature a rear fog lamp as well so as to help the commuters riding behind you to spot you easily! The regulations drafted for the use of front fog lamps differ from one country to another, but we do miss out on any norms due to which people tend to misunderstand their real purpose. The road safety laws in Australia prohibit the use of fog lamps when visibility is not hindered due to bad weather. Moreover, fog lamps can be used only with a low beam to avoid glare to oncoming traffic.
As per many statistics and researches, it has been revealed that many drivers tend to use the headlights and fog lights interchangeably and are not aware of the purpose of the same. Moreover, in the United States, people tend to use front fog lamps more in dry weather conditions than in foggy or rainy weather. They are also used by drivers to direct the light on the road while snowing to reduce the glare from the snowflakes which does seem to be an intelligent implementation of the safety feature.
To make the car look aesthetically cooler, people tend to throw in a pair of aftermarket LED bulbs which ruin the entire purpose of having fog lamps. In bad weather conditions, white light spreads and poses a lit up opaque cloud, thus hindering your visibility on the road. The bulbs used in a fog lamp assembly should be of a warmer temperature to fulfil the purpose they are built for. Also, we should turn off the rear fog lamps when not necessary as the tailgaters might mistake them to be brake lights which might result in a mess on the road!
