This is an issue that has been perturbing since a long time
and sadly there have been no major developments that would calm my nerves in
the past many years. It’s the issue of rear fog lamps.
With the winters setting in, I think rear fog lamps are
perhaps one of the most needed equipment in any vehicle be it a car, truck,
scooter etc.
Now my friends from south India may not share the same
sentiment but at least in all of northern India like Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
etc., the dense fog, year after year, wreaks havoc especially on the motorists.
Be it early morning or night driving, fog is your worst
enemy on the road in winters and every year several motorists, passengers and
even pedestrians lose their lives because of this.
Now what irritates me is that why can’t the government
formulate a stringent policy on cars having rear fog lamps at least, those sold
in north India, the way it was made mandatory for four-wheeler drivers to wear seatbelts
or helmets for two-wheeler drivers.
And why can’t car makers on their own do this? I know many
cars have rear fog lamps but why can’t all of them have it?
Moreover, there is an idiotic trend that I have observed the
top variant of a model will have a fog lamp but not its poorer base variant.
For example: Maruti Suzuki Swift, Mahindra Xylo etc.
Now I wonder what the logic behind this is. Does a Swift Ldi/Lx
has a Titanium boot covered with Kevlar??? Does it not deserve to be protected
with a 100 rupees lamp because the owner won’t shell out that extra cash for
some alloys or sunroof?
I personally drive an ANHC that was launched in 2009. In its
tail lamp assembly there was an enclosure for a fog lamp but no bulb in it.
Why? How much a pair of bulbs would cost you Honda? On top of it, the recent
facelift has left the city without any rear fog lamps. Bravo Honda.
I am a Delhiite and I used to travel on the Delhi-Gurgaon
and Delhi-Noida expressways often last year and trust me, driving in that thick
fog was like hell.
On top of it several drivers would have their blinkers on—another
idiotic trend which is a nuisance but people are comfortable with it.
Surprisingly, even the Delhi Traffic Police in one of its advisories on
facebook last winter had written: “Thick fog, drive with blinkers on.”
And so many people slammed them for their lack of knowledge
and spreading wrong information. The advisory was removed from the site after a
few hours.
Finally, I would end this post with another IDIOTIC TREND –
that of car makers putting those silly LED daytime running lamps which frankly
speaking are there only for cosmetic purposes.
DRL’s are required in Nordic countries where sometimes
the afternoons are dark. But in an attempt to ape the west and just to look
cool, these lights are becoming so popular that Philips has introduced DRL
strips in the market.
I just read on Autocar India’s website that the i20’s top
versions would be getting these LED daytime running lights. Common sense is so
uncommon.
