So I just realised I got a fine when I'm about to renew my car rego. And it was because I accidentally used fog light.
I remember that at that the police told me that it will be just warning. But now I got this $215 fine for just using up a fog light.
I think $215 is a bit too much for this type of fine.
What does everyone think of it?
OP said;
I think $215 is a bit too much for this type of fine.
The point to dispute here is not the fine itself, but the cost of the fine. The RMS outlines the fine as being $110, but OP has received around a $215 fine. Either there is something else at play on this fine (ie: late payments) or another fine attached for a similar amount. (2x $110 fines or 3x $73 fines.)
If the prescribed fine is $110, than OP is well within their rights to dispute the $215 fine they received.
I guess we are all still waiting for OP to respond/clarify… agree if it's the price difference, but who knows… there could have been something else that wasn't mentioned
Almost as bad as driving with thongs on = fine in NSW i think
Nope, no fine. It is recommended by driving experts to not wear thongs while driving as they may get caught in the pedals, but it isn't illegal, neither is driving barefoot. Driving experts also recommend driving barefoot over using thongs.
I have a 2016 Levorg. The DRLs on my vehicle look like fog lights. The LEDs are actually the 'park' lights.
I'd be pretty pissed off if I copped fine. Plus I drive with headlights on during the day in my work vehicles in rural areas.
I've been yelled at by bogans for having my DRLs on. Freaking plebs and their halogen lights man.
Fog lights are for use in the fog only - simple.
Should be more fines issued.
It’s not the front fogs that I find annoying so much, but the rear lights. I don’t think people realise how bright the tail lights are when the fogs are on.
Agreed, was stuck behind someone the other night who had their rear fog lights on and it was near blinding.
Thanks for posting OP. I've been known to use my fog lights on my Audi because they look cool. Never knew it was illegal, won't use them ever again.
Does the OP mean high beam? Never heard about using fog lights is an offence.
sigh
Good to know.
Did you have dash cam that recorded what the officer told you about it was just a warning but now incorrectly issued as a fine?
I also received a fine not long ago and I didn't think it was OK. So I disputed and won (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/353267), thanks to the help of some great ozbarginers.
So as long as you have a point there, fight for it!
OP was clearly breaking the law though whether the cop said it was a warning or not
Now if the police could just start fining the numpties driving at dusk/night without lights on and hence their DRL's burning everyone else's retinas. Give me foglights any day over this.
I've had this warning before from Vic Police.
You'll find that no politician's kid goes to public school. No politician lives in a working class suburb either, even if that's their electorate. Have some pity on the poor folks running the show in the various state and federal parliaments - they've got bills to pay too. Be grateful that you could contribute to keeping our lawmakers' kids off the street.
Dont forget the daily helicopter rides. Cant be sitting in traffic now!
How else are they going to rain s**t on us everyday?
That’s life you make a mistake and you pay for your mistakes.
Around my area you see daily hundreds of drivers that accidentally leave their fog lights on.
If you were one of those idiots who drive at night with parking lights+ fog lights, well deserved. Not only it makes you look like a (profanity) (I know, you think it is cool, you saw it in fast and furious) but it also makes you difficult to see at night. Usually that combo of lights comes with the boy-racer attitude, driving too close to the car in front of you. Guess what? We can’t see your lights in the mirror!
You should be able to contest the fine if the police officer told you it was a warning.
I would ring the officer and remind them what they told you.
Then decide whether to take it in front of a judge after that , if they deny the warning or wave the fine.
Contest it on what grounds, OP didn't think he was getting a fine? OP did it and got the fine, just cop it or take it to court and ask for a lesser penalty IMO
The policeman gave him a verbal warning, as in ' this is just a warning but next time watch out'
fines , points ect.
This is what I would take a verbal warning to mean.
Did the op turn the lights off before driving away from being pulled over?
then you would deserve a fine.
The only thing I can think of is that you got pinged for two offences.
Rule 218-1 (a) Use fog light when not permitted 2 $110
Rule 219 Use/allow use of light on/in vehicle likely/to dazzle 2 $110 1
However rule 219 incures demerit point penalties. Did you lose a point?
http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/roads/safety-rules/demer…
If you did it, either pay the fine or take it to court, plead guilty and ask for a lesser penalty (but be prepared for it to go either way).
If you didn't do it, request a review and failing that elect to goto court and plead not guilty.
The only advice you need.
About bloody time drivers are booked for that. The police that booked you gets my YAY for the day.
Oh, BTW. Learn the road rules or you may be booked for something else you didn't know.
I feel your pain but I absolutely hate it when drivers put on fog lights or high beams unnecessarily.
Vision definitely gets impaired for a few seconds and coupled with driving at high speeds can cause accidents.
Shame you were fined but an accident though.
Wait, how do you accidentally use fog lights?
My first thought was that you should have been fined more. You deserved it. Then I felt sorry for you if it was really accidental.
I really hope similar fines are given to people who leave the rear fog light on.
Those people can diaf
Yeah should be $210
That's a bummer, you might not get the 1/2 price license renewal either. My license was up for renewal and I was driving down the spit at Sydney at 80kmh and after I saw the fixed speed cameras I freaked out and got my license renewed that day, but I never was fined. I also drove around for 1 1/2 months with my high beams on, my company gave me a new car and I never realised, it was only after a car blinked me in the morning that I checked. I have been really lucky.
I did get a parking ticket for $183 for not being parked in the direction of traffic (I didn't know that was an offence) yet parking in a no stopping zone is $110, it's crazy.
Good. It seems like every fifth car is operated by someone who doesn’t understand their headlights.
Parking lights are for parking.
Low beams are for driving in town.
Fog lights are for fog and shouldn’t be wired to work with high beams. They should only be used in bad weather and need to be aimed low.
High beams are for when you’re not near other drivers.
Driving with your fog lights on increases the brightness of the road immediately in front of you. Your eyes adjust to that brightness level and your night distance vision suffers. Not much help at 80km/h or above.
Got Fine for Using Fog Lights
Was it foggy? If not, then yeah its illegal to use them in lots of states.
They should also start fining (or rather enforcing) people with shitty cars with no lights. Seriously in Victoria I come across so many cars with one headlight and thanks to the shitty no pink slip rules they somehow drive around with no recourse. About time Victoria got with the program and introduced annual inspections, instead of only when selling which doesn't catch those who run their vehicles to the ground - Not to mention having to redo it should your car not sell within a month. / Rant over!
What a ridiculous post.
Fines are set by law.
Naturally we think they are all unreasonable and just a grab for cash.
But there is nothing you can do about how reasonable they are so why bother with this post?
Time waster
OP said;
I think $215 is a bit too much for this type of fine.
The RMS says this fine is $110. Without posting this questions and just paying the fine with no dispute, OP would not have realised that something wasn’t right with the fine.
OP is not disputing getting the fine and admitted to using the fog lights. What OP was asking was if that fine was too much considering the breach of the road rules, and through answeres on here, it turns out that this is entirely the case.
So, at the end of the day, since OP asked and has since found out, there is something that they can do now with this new found information…
I think it is great that you got the fine. The law is clear and it is super frustrating when people have their fog lights on just because they think it looks cool. Pay it, learn a lesson, move on
good job coppers, you did something right
whats the diff between driving with your foglights during day vs Driving Lights (LED)
One is for fog. One is for day. If it's foggy during the day you can use both.
The clue is in the name of the light. Think about it for a moment
I meant, why do u get a fine for using fog light, when the Driving Lights are just as bright during day (forget about purpose name)
If you want to know the difference between DRL and fog lights, I made a post on the first page in regards to Australian Design Rules
The eyesight system doesn't work as well without the fog lights on (lane keep assist). Need to stop using them.
It’s a common problem with new WRX in which if you use auto mode for lights it switches on the fogs. Luckily I noticed it after a month and from then I manually switch on headlights when needed.
I do spot lot of new Rex’s with their fogs on and can only hope they notice it before it’s too late like OP
copper kents making their quota
Enforcing the road rules is the hwp job.
A ticket is a ticket, adds to their quota
Yes they have quotas
Almost every job has a kpi.
The hwp meeting or exceeding theirs is good.
You got fined for using foglights at night?
Did you have your main low lip headlights on too?
I hate it when ppl use foglights at night unnecessarily.
We do leave our xenon low beam headlights on day and night for safety.
fog lamps =/= DRLs
Awesome!!! you deserve it!!!!!!!!! I absolutely can't stand driving behind idiots who have fog lights on when there is no fog… Its about time the cops started finding people for these annoyances.. I bet you also don't know how to keep left unless overtaking and how to use STOP signs… ahhh.. they should make people do road rules tests to renew licences.
Maybe the op could post an image of his ticket so we can see exactly what it's for.
the rule and law for using fog lights outside severe weather conditions, has always been there as far as i can remember when i got my licence in the 90s.
but yeah, while i never got fined, i did get warning once. i had them on cos they looked 'cool' and fully sick bro :)
You got off lightly compared to the ridiculous fines Cyclists can get.
got fined a few years back, remember it was less than $100
it's too steep for something as innocent as leaving your fog lights on.
honestly, when was the last time you were "blinded" by fog lights
more likely getting blinded by one of those neon lights instead.
I usually would never recommend a commodore, but I recently saw a review of the Commodore VXR.
It's pretty damn loaded and looks quite nice in my opinion. Nowadays they're made in germany if that means anything.
Alternatively, go for the kia stinger.
fuk me, wrong thread. Went all weird on me when my internet dropped out
Nowadays they're made in germany if that means anything.
It means you need to update your knowledge… Being made in Germany does not make it a good car or on par with German marque brands like Audi or BMW. It’s like saying all the phones that come out of China are on par with iPhone.
It’s an Opel. Well renowned for producing/being A-grade shitboxes.
No V8, only 4cyl and 6cyl (6cyl only available in the VRX??). And I may need to update my industry knowledge, but it’s also going to be a front wheel drive or maybe an AWD model.
So, even in that other thread it was supposed to go in, it’s a bad car to suggest. This car will kill Holden. Holden already couldnt sell the last few models, what hope have they got of shipping a 4cyl, front wheel drive Opel “Commodore”?
With fog lights
I have some knowledge in the field.
By comparison with the normal person, a cop, especially highway patrol, are considered experts in their field. Most cops (and all highway patrol cops) do know what's the difference between DLR's and Fog lights, no matter how they look or where they are positioned.
Me personally, I get really really pissed off when someone drives with the rear fog lights on. They are bright as f*** and annoy the s*** out of me. I would give fines for the rear ones. Front ones, not so much but hell there are a lot of people out there driving with them on.
BTW, if you'd read your car's manual, you would find out that the fog lights put a lot of pressure on the alternator as they draw a lot of power.
BTW, if you'd read your car's manual, you would find out that the fog lights put a lot of pressure on the alternator as they draw a lot of power.
Wha? They would probably draw less than the headlights.
Yeah, I’m a mechanic and I also call bullshit on zapy’s statement.
There would be no more “pressure” on the alternator with fogs as there would be with high beams, let alone reading about it in the user manual… I would say that there are a lot of other systems in the car that draw just as much power and the load on the alternator is just a sum of all those parts…
Yep. Don’t use your power windows, you’ll wear out the alternator!
As true as it may seem, have a look here:http://www.kia.ca/content/ownership/ownersmanual/18sorento.pdf
When in operation, the fog lights consume large amounts of vehicle electrical power. Only use the fog lights when visibility is poor.
I'm no mechanic btw.
They would not consume any more power than high beams. In fact, from searching, it appears the halogen type fogs on Sorento is a 27w globe. The high beam lights are 55w. Some Sorento models appear to have LED, and they would use even less power.
The comment about using them when visibility is poor has nothing to do with alternator load and more about the legality of when they should be used.
I have a 2016 wrx and also got a 'warning' for having my fog lights on. It was actually my DRLs that were on but the copper didn't believe me so I let him change the settings on the stalk and he still couldn't turn the 'fog lights' off…
I feel for you. These petty offences shouldn't have such large fines.
Just pay the fine and you will be fine.
If you dispute in court about the fine, you might find that you will still be fined and you will not be fine.
In NSW it's the law
"I think $215 is a bit too much for this type of fine."
That may be your opinion but the fact is that fog lights are meant to be low pointed and very bright so they really can blind people - even in daylight.
OP isn’t disputimg the fact they got a fine, what they are disputing is the severity of it. Not asking to get off it, just asking if it is too much.
If you bothered to read the first page, there are heaps of links and information provided that state that what OP is being fined, dollar wise, is in fact well over the prescribed fine.
the lac could just as easily have issued op with a penalty notice with two penalty units.
One for each fog light… :D
I suggest you move to a state where you get to pay whatever you think is fair for committing a traffic offence. Oh wait, there isn't one.
On what grounds would you dispute it?
If OP incorrectly had their fog lights on where's their argument?
They aren't denying having their fog lights on.
Go to court, take a day off work, spend hours waiting for the case to be heard and the magistrate will add costs to the fine for wasting their time.
Pay the fine OP and move on.