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Post by c64 on Jan 9, 2013 14:22:06 GMT
Around here in town, cars parallel park on the streets. I can't count how many times a driver has opened a door in front of me or walked out into traffic to the driver's door. The amazing part is they act like it's your fault for having to slam on brakes and blasting the horn in an effort to keep from hitting them. That's the norm all over Germany. You may even park half on the lane (and half on the side-walk) if there are 2 meters space for the pedestrians (e.g. wheelchair) and if there are X meters (I forgot the number, one standard truck width) space for a car to squeeze through left. www.torange-de.com/photo/6/13/Parken-entlang-Stra%C3%9Fe-1286187378_14.jpgWhat's illegal parking in this picture are the blue and the black car in the middle. They face into the wrong direction Currently, I wouldn't mind if someone opens the door without checking the mirror first. My current car doesn't have fog lights and I need a new front spoiler with the holes to install them. A door in the way would be perfect since it would only destroy the front spoiler leaving the rest of the car intact. So I get a new spoiler donated from the insurance and can install the fog lights
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Post by the light works on Jan 9, 2013 14:56:28 GMT
If I were a legislator, one of my pet projects would be a law that forbade making parking arrangements such that a person had to reverse in a traffic lane of a highway to enter or leave the parking.
In the fire service, they teach us to habitually park so we can pull forwards out of the parking space. the reason for this is you can see better travelling forwards, and we tend to occasionally leave a parking space in a hurry. there has been a statistically relevant number of incidents where a firefighter, responding to an emergency, has struck a child while backing out of his driveway.
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Post by rory on Jan 9, 2013 22:35:23 GMT
In many of my current journeys, I've managed to surprise myself with how far I've got as I've completely stopped acknowledging what I've already passed.
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 10, 2013 9:28:34 GMT
Lights... UK law.
In UK, its illegal to show a White light to the rear or Red light to the front. That of course is dependant on Travel direction.... a car in Reverse may show white light to the rear. But ONLY whilst reversing.... Reverse lights may only be on when the vehicle is in Reverse Gear.... not manually switched. UNLESS that is a HGV and you have reverse spot lights to line up on a trailer.
Flashing lights. Blue, Emergency vehicles only. Green, Doctors or paramedics only. Red, either of the above two, but not the norm... (and partially why we insist on Orange/Yellow indicator lights not flashing red tail lights as used by some American cars)
Yellow, any other vehicle that may cause a hazard, slow moving, wide, tall, etc., and Road mending crew or any other vehicle that may make frequent stops (Bin wagon).
Spot lights to the front, you may carry yellow tinted spot lights for Fog use, however, you cannot run with them on if its clear weather.
Any light fitted must work.
And indicators MUST be clearly visible. If you tow a trailer and the trailer obscures any light, you must have a set of lights on that trailer. You must have running lights on that trailer after dark to prevent someone not seeing it and colliding with it.
Any part of the vehicle or load that hangs over the main lights MUST be lit after dark... say a long ladder on a roof rack.., during the day, you should also have a high visibility Flag on such loads.
There is a distance from the outside of the vehicle that is a minimum requirement before you must put a light there, as in, two spots in the middle of the front bumper and two foot gap from them to the outside of the vehicle is not legal. (same at the back...) This is to prevent oncoming/following traffic thinking you are a Motorcycle.... or narrow vehicle,,...and not giving you enough room...
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Post by the light works on Jan 11, 2013 2:44:11 GMT
here, all emergency vehicles are allowed flashing reds and whites. police and fire are also allowed blue. we only use green to indicate the command post at an incident scene.
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 11, 2013 10:51:22 GMT
I suppose its what you are used to as you grow up... in the UK, if you see a flash of Blue on the roads, you start looking for Emergency Vehicles..... you kind of ignore anything BUT blue... if they changed that to a red/white combo, would the emegrency vehicles be ignored?.. I suspect so....
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Post by the light works on Jan 11, 2013 16:15:34 GMT
well, we tend to put a LOT more lights on ours...
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Post by c64 on Jan 12, 2013 17:40:49 GMT
Same here (Germany) although you may switch the light manually if the car was first licensed in the early 70s or earlier. You don't have to have them until 1974 or so and big trucks usually had one serving as a work light. The furniture delivery truck of my dad had one with a cable drum you could carry around (within 15 meters).
Flashing lights. Blue, Emergency vehicles only. Green, Doctors or paramedics only. Red, either of the above two, but not the norm... (and partially why we insist on Orange/Yellow indicator lights not flashing red tail lights as used by some American cars)
Green isn't used for vehicles and traffic in general except traffic lights. Green is the "All is good" in industry and traffic. Blue is "out of my way" in traffic (emergency vehicles, Police, ambulance, emergency paramedic, fire fighters and THW. Yellow is "Attention/Danger" and used by any dangerous vehicle but not allowed on ordinary cars except as turn signals. Red is tail lights and brake lights, they may not flash. Flashing red lights are for railroad crossings only. The only exception are the modern LED tail-lights which turn extra bright and flicker when you brake real hard. This reduces the reaction time of following drivers by up to 50%, the car maker needs a certificate of exemption.
Yellow, any other vehicle that may cause a hazard, slow moving, wide, tall, etc., and Road mending crew or any other vehicle that may make frequent stops (Bin wagon).
Ours have to be officially licensed to have them.
Spot lights to the front, you may carry yellow tinted spot lights for Fog use, however, you cannot run with them on if its clear weather. Illegal over here. Fog lights have to be white and need to be official compatible with your car. You may not turn them on except there is rain, dust, snow falling or fog. The exception is that modern cars may now use them as "bending light" and as "day lights" with a certificate of exemption. Yellow were used as low-beams in France but those became illegal there, too thanks to the EU.
Any light fitted must work. Same here, and it has to be licensed for the car. You may not change the power or colour! And the crazy part is that this is for all lights you can or could see from the outside, so messing with the interior lights is also illegal. I did, but Since I had installed 68 LEDs and some of them are "sunset orange" which make the glass of the lights look like there's a conventional bulb behind, nobody had noticed except one TÜV safety inspector who said: "Looks to good for lights in a car that old, but how am I supposed to know how the lights look like in every car in the world?!"
And indicators MUST be clearly visible. If you tow a trailer and the trailer obscures any light, you must have a set of lights on that trailer. Same here
You must have running lights on that trailer after dark to prevent someone not seeing it and colliding with it.
They have to be connected to the tail lights of the towing vehicle, so they are on whenever the lights of the towing vehicle are on. There was a big problem with the old 7-pin DIN connectors. Since the trailer doesn't have to have a rear fog light, it was often used as permanent +12V for a caravan. So when your car was wired up for a caravan and you use an ordinary trailer which happens to have a fog light, the next police officer who spots you gives you a juicy ticket if you don't take out the bulb.
Any part of the vehicle or load that hangs over the main lights MUST be lit after dark... say a long ladder on a roof rack.., during the day, you should also have a high visibility Flag on such loads.
Not necessary over here. Cargo may not be wider than the vehicle and may not exceed the front bumper. And if it's longer than 80cm over the rear bumper, a red flag is mandatory and can be anything, even a red hat or a more or less red towel.
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Post by the light works on Jan 12, 2013 18:24:09 GMT
here, any vehicle may have a worklight fitted that is intended to be used while the vehicle is stopped.
and here, rear fog lights are the exception, not the norm.
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Post by c64 on Jan 12, 2013 23:06:11 GMT
and here, rear fog lights are the exception, not the norm. This used to be the same over here, too. First, you had to retrofit them and most did it for optic tuning rather than safety. They often blocked the radiator and caused problems. Then car makers started to offer them as expensive option. VW even made the mistake in using the same cable harness and even make the glass and reflector part of the headlight and just didn't install the bulb and its sockets so all you had to do was getting the socket from the bone-yard or as a cheaper spare part. Now you need to replace the bumper or (just as in my case) the spoiler. Since 5 years ago or so, car makers started to use the fog lights as "bending lights" and running lights so fog lights become more and more part of the basic equipment of cars. I guess it won't take long until this trend also shows up in the USA.
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Post by the light works on Jan 13, 2013 2:28:27 GMT
and here, rear fog lights are the exception, not the norm. This used to be the same over here, too. First, you had to retrofit them and most did it for optic tuning rather than safety. They often blocked the radiator and caused problems. Then car makers started to offer them as expensive option. VW even made the mistake in using the same cable harness and even make the glass and reflector part of the headlight and just didn't install the bulb and its sockets so all you had to do was getting the socket from the bone-yard or as a cheaper spare part. Now you need to replace the bumper or (just as in my case) the spoiler. Since 5 years ago or so, car makers started to use the fog lights as "bending lights" and running lights so fog lights become more and more part of the basic equipment of cars. I guess it won't take long until this trend also shows up in the USA. rear fog lights, not front fog lights. front fog lights are optional on nearly every car made, the first came into fashion here in the 80s. I had a tricked out installation shining through cutouts in the front bumper of my Nissan pickup in 89. (and aimed below the low bean headlights like they are SUPPOSED to be.) but not sure what you mean by "bending lights" are we having a translation issue?
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Post by Lonewolf on Jan 13, 2013 4:34:16 GMT
Most drivers in the US aren't aware of this but anything hanging/sticking out 24" or more (~60cm) past the taillights requires a red flag or lighting.
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Post by silverdragon on Jan 13, 2013 8:09:37 GMT
Well Fork them then... as in what do they know that we dont?....(the EU that is...) If there is any positive research that shows WHY Yellow fog lights are "bad" I will be interested, However... I have had yellow fog lights and found they did a heck of a lot more in adding some form of contrast to the shadows in Fog (and other low viability conditions) . I have a set of Yellow tinted "Fog" drivers glasses that I use.... Perhaps they dont do THAT much, but I can safely vouch that I dont get that blinding headache you all get when driving in fog?...
So why HAVE the EU banned Yellow Fog lamps then?..... At least when you have a yellow tint to what you can see, you know you have them on?...
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Post by the light works on Jan 13, 2013 15:26:11 GMT
I get the headache, but that is because of all the dolts who still drive like it is a clear sunny day.
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Post by c64 on Jan 13, 2013 15:36:13 GMT
Most drivers in the US aren't aware of this but anything hanging/sticking out 24" or more (~60cm) past the taillights requires a red flag or lighting. Same here in Germany, although there are no legal lights available so it's "flag only". The maximum length of sticking out cargo is also limited - I just forgot the numbers here, I drive a pretty long car and can borrow large trucks any time for free so I never had the problem of cargo which more than 100cm longer than the cargo space in the vehicle.
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Post by the light works on Jan 13, 2013 15:41:54 GMT
here, if a commercial carrier is hauling something that sticks out significantly past the trailer, his trailer is fitted with a removable rear light assembly that gets installed to the end of the load. - the trailer for that purpose typically consists of a bogey with a drawbar just sturdy enough to keep it from parting company when returning to the yard empty. the load becomes the chassis of the trailer. our log trucks are frequently of the same design. a set of bunks on the tractor and a bogey with a set of bunks and a drawbar to keep the air lines and light wires from dragging on the ground.
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Post by c64 on Jan 13, 2013 15:42:41 GMT
rear fog lights, not front fog lights. front fog lights are optional on nearly every car made, the first came into fashion here in the 80s. I had a tricked out installation shining through cutouts in the front bumper of my Nissan pickup in 89. (and aimed below the low bean headlights like they are SUPPOSED to be.) but not sure what you mean by "bending lights" are we having a translation issue? Rear fog lights are mandatory for all cars made since the early 70s in most EU countries. Front is optional but becomes more and more standard. I looked it up, "Kurvenlicht" translates to "bending lights". Citroën had invented them, the headlights rotate left and right connected to the steering wheel. The newer ones were computer controlled and shine to the left or right before you turn the steering wheel far. And the new and very simple variation is using the front fog lights which come on one side when you set the turn signal or turn the steering wheel while driving.
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Post by c64 on Jan 13, 2013 15:48:39 GMT
So why HAVE the EU banned Yellow Fog lamps then?..... At least when you have a yellow tint to what you can see, you know you have them on?... Over here, light colours really mean something. Colours signal something so you may not use them for illumination purposes! Also they might mask the yellow turn signals in fog, so if you want to turn left, a "camouflaged" bicyclist with no light won't notice your intention.
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Post by c64 on Jan 13, 2013 15:53:38 GMT
Most drivers in the US aren't aware of this but anything hanging/sticking out 24" or more (~60cm) past the taillights requires a red flag or lighting. By the way, there are a lot of things an ordinary driver doesn't know. For example, in construction sites, there is often a narrower lane. There are signs which ban vehicles which are too wide. The problem is that the car documents declare the width without mirrors, the law counts the mirrors as well. And most modern large cars are almost 2m without mirrors and may not use the "<2m" lanes!
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Post by the light works on Jan 13, 2013 16:05:45 GMT
rear fog lights, not front fog lights. front fog lights are optional on nearly every car made, the first came into fashion here in the 80s. I had a tricked out installation shining through cutouts in the front bumper of my Nissan pickup in 89. (and aimed below the low bean headlights like they are SUPPOSED to be.) but not sure what you mean by "bending lights" are we having a translation issue? Rear fog lights are mandatory for all cars made since the early 70s in most EU countries. Front is optional but becomes more and more standard. I looked it up, "Kurvenlicht" translates to "bending lights". Citroën had invented them, the headlights rotate left and right connected to the steering wheel. The newer ones were computer controlled and shine to the left or right before you turn the steering wheel far. And the new and very simple variation is using the front fog lights which come on one side when you set the turn signal or turn the steering wheel while driving. I was wondering if that was the concept - here some luxury cars have dedicated lights for that purpose - usually mounted on the side ahead of the front wheels - activating the turn signal also turns on the light, so you can see to turn into a driveway. other than that, there is no such thing, here. and here, they allow yellow or amber fog lights, on the idea that turn signals are distinctive in that they are flashing - which also distinguishes then from the amber clearance lights on the front half of the vehicle.
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