Rear fog lights

[MoogLe]

the other day my girlfriend told me that my right rear fog light was not working, so i checked and she was right.

so i go to the dealer and ask the guy what's up with that and he said that this is the way it's supposed to be in Europe because of some european law or something, that you only require one and it doesnt even come with both working from the factory...

i was just curious, was he bullshitting me or what?

it's a C200 by the way

 

[190]

In the uk you need a least one fog light fitted to the o/s/r by law.

 

[davidsl500]

One high intensity rear fog light is pretty standard these days. Its a safety thing since if you had one each side it would be very difficult to detect the brake lights coming on.

 

[Geoff_Slade]

Depends what you mean by the right one. If you are looking at the car from the rear the right hand one (the offside) should work. If it's not lighting up the bulb has gone.

 

[MoogLe]

One high intensity rear fog light is pretty standard these days. Its a safety thing since if you had one each side it would be very difficult to detect the brake lights coming on.

that's kinda what the dealer told me so i guess he wasnt bs'ing me after all

thanks

 

[mlc]

Im a bit confused by some of the answers. The law requires one or two fog lights, two have to be symetrically mounted, one on its own is either on the centre line or to the offside (drivers side) of the centre line. The original message said that the right hand isnt working which would infer that the left hand is working - which means a fault. Cant agree with the idea that one light is fitted alone to avoid a mix up with brake lights. A single light is a cost cutting exercise - and most cars have high level brake lights these days anyway. The final thing is that if the car comes out of the factory with two lights they have to both work. This is because the law expects the owner to maintain the car to at least the standard it was built to - even if the production spec was above the legal requirement. The same requirement means that for instance a back wiper must work if its fitted and tyres of a lower speed rating than orignal can not be used.

mark.

 

[MoogLe]

that's kinda what went through my head when he told me that,

i'll try to take a picture later to show you what i was talking about

 

[MSG2004]

Hello, for once the MB dealer in not BS-ing :roll:

When we got our car a few months back, I was just checking the lights and noted only the driver side worked on my C-class - read the manual that night how to change bulb but noted the car comes with one rear fog light only - silly really and not as safe as two.

Most small cars have one fog and one reverse - but the C class is not a fiesta/focus/etc.

So for once they are telling the truth.

 

[davidsl500]

Throughout europe rear fog lights are a mandatory requirement but individual countries vary on fittment law. For instance in Belgium the law only allows for a single rear fog light to be fitted to their offside. You will find that the safety conscious Swedes also favour the single fog on volvos and saabs.

In the USA Fog lights are not a legal requirement but if fitted must be a single lamp on the their offside.

I disagree that this is a cost cutting exercise - our nearside is our lhd neighbours offside so its not that the manufacturers arent making a few of these units !

The reason is SAFETY. In bad weather ie mist and driving rain with a wet windscreen a pair of high intesity rear lights mask the brake lights very effectively and cause accidents - either rear end shunts as drivers dont see the brake lights of the vehicle in front coming on or a driver rounding a bend and seeing the vehicle ahead with what he thinks is brake lights solidly on - ie severe braking and slams on the anchors - wet road on a bend - need i say more.

Where does MoogLe live ? maybe his right hand fog doesnt work because he drives a lhd in europe somewhere?

 

[MoogLe]

Hello, for once the MB dealer in not BS-ing :roll:

When we got our car a few months back, I was just checking the lights and noted only the driver side worked on my C-class - read the manual that night how to change bulb but noted the car comes with one rear fog light only - silly really and not as safe as two.

Most small cars have one fog and one reverse - but the C class is not a fiesta/focus/etc.

So for once they are telling the truth.

ah, thanks for the answer msg

that was exactly the answer i was looking for

and david i live on a caribean island called curacao http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/caribb/an.htm