If you are like any of the hundreds of thousands of people who haven’t had the chance to drive through dense fog, you are also probably wondering how fog lights work to help you in near-zero visibility fog conditions. After all, they are still “lights,” right?
Don’t worry. Most car owners don’t know how fog lights work or how they can help you up until they experience their first foggy drive. We’ll break down what makes fog lights work and how they can keep you safe during dreary conditions.
What are fog lights?
Fog lights, or fog lamps, are a unique set of lights installed in cars with the specific purpose of helping out the driver in situations with reduced visibility. They can often be found below the headlights (how low depends on the car model).
A fog light can be identified by its bar shape and the sharp angle of illumination. Most of the time, they are rectangular or bar-shaped and give off a selective yellow light.
The fog light in your car differs from your regular headlights in their position and orientation. Your high beam and low beam are aimed at shallower angles to illuminate the road ahead. A fog light, in contrast, is aimed at a very sharp angle to the point where it illuminates what is directly in front of the vehicle.
People have this notion that all lights that are colored yellow are fog lights. This is not true as many older cars use selective yellow lights on their headlights as it is less likely to glare for other drivers.
Due to the orientation and angle of regular fog lights, they are unnecessary to use in normal driving conditions. While most people think it’s just better to light up everything in front of your vehicle while driving, using your fog light on a routine drive tends to make your eyes dilate due to having more light than usual in front of you. As a result, it will be harder for you to see a darker road in front of you.
How fog lights work to help you drive in poor driving conditions
As the name suggests, fog lights are used during foggy weather or weather that offers poor to zero visibility. If you’ve had the chance to drive under heavy rain or fog, your regular headlights often provide little to no help improving your vision. In some cases, the setup of your headlights can even cause glare to the driver, making it much more dangerous. This is because the light being given off by your headlight gets bounced off (or back to you) in fog, making them useless.
Fog lights, on the other hand, illuminate the ground just in front of your car. The selective yellow light and the angle make it less likely to bounce off or back to you in heavy rain or fog. In moments when your high or low beam makes it harder for you to see what’s in front of you, it is better to switch to your fog lights.
Just a word of caution, though. Fog lights only provide illumination on what’s directly in front of your vehicle. This means you should be going at a relatively slower speed for the fog light to help you out. Traveling at high speeds in poor visibility conditions with only your fog lights can cause accidents.
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Since time immemorial, car owners have filled their tires with regular air. There’s no real reason why you would think to fill it up with anything else. But some “specialty” vehicles like airplanes and race cars use nitrogen to fill their tires.
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with choosing nitrogen over compressed air, but there’s nothing too special either. You can always fill your tires with nitrogen, but be wary that places that offer such services can be sparse in certain areas. This means that if you need to refill in an unfamiliar location, then you might have a hard time doing so.
To understand why you might need a brake bleed or flush, you first need to have a basic understanding about how your brake system works.
Now that you know how your brake system works and how brake fluid is a part of it, what does a brake bleed or brake flush have to do with it?
A brake bleed is often all your vehicle needs to top off the fluids in your brake system and make sure that your brakes respond like they should when you press the pedal.
Tune ups as we know them today are completely different than they were when the term was first coined. A tune up in an early car was routine maintenance work on the vehicle’s ignition system to ensure that ignition and fueling worked in perfect tandem with each other.
Every modern vehicle comes with what’s known as a ‘maintenance schedule’. This schedule consists of routine work that is required after a certain amount of miles have been driven. A modern tune up is another way to refer to this routine maintenance.
Back in the day, old vehicles might need a tune up every 10,000 miles or so. Newer vehicles are designed to last longer and may go 20 – 30,000 miles between maintenance items. Depending on the condition of your vehicle and driving habits, you may need to get a car tune up earlier than this.
Like all stories, there’s a reason that letting your car come to operating temperature became common knowledge.
Modern vehicles are equipped with complex electronic systems that monitor how much air and fuel can enter the combustion chambers and make adjustments as needed. These sensors are as fast as they are accurate, and they ensure that your engine gets the correct amount of fuel regardless of whether you immediately put your car into ‘drive’ or not.
The paint on the outside of your vehicle is very susceptible to sun damage, so it’s important to keep your vehicle out of sunlight as much as possible, especially during the sunny summer months. The easiest way to do this is park your car in a garage or carport when possible.
It’s important to wash and wax your car regardless of the time of year, but it’s especially important during the summer. Over time, sunlight can fade the paint on the exterior of your vehicle. Wax protects your paint from damage, dirt and debris, as well as sap bird droppings that result from parking under the shade.
You can generally treat hard-top convertibles the same as other vehicles when it comes to protecting them from the summer sun. If you own a soft-top convertible, though, it’s important to 
The interior of your car can be affected by sun damage, too. Damage to these components can range from bleaching to cracking or warping. It may not impact the performance of your vehicle, but can affect its appearance and resale value.
It’s important to remember that your tires need protection, too. It’s natural for your tires to deteriorate with use and time, but regular exposure to UV rays can accelerate that process.
The general advice goes that you should change your oil every 3,000 miles. In fact, the exact frequency 
Your belts and hoses can be easy to forget about, but it’s important to check them when your car hasn’t been driven for a while. These vehicle components naturally degrade over time, but disuse can accelerate this degradation. For example, rubber hoses can dry out and crack when fluids aren’t regularly flowing through them.
Your car battery relies on the engine being run to recharge it. When your car isn’t being driven, the battery doesn’t have the chance to regain any power lost while your car has been sitting idle. A car battery tester can help you quickly identify how much charge your battery currently has, helping you eliminate the chance of getting stranded on the road.
Your tires likely won’t need a rotation if your car hasn’t been driven much, but it’s still important to make sure that they are properly inflated since your tires naturally lose air over time. This can impact the tread wear when you do take your vehicle out.
A less frequently considered part of car maintenance during the pandemic has to do with ‘new residents’. When your car is sitting idle and unused, it suddenly becomes prime real estate for certain rodents, such as mice and chipmunks. This is especially true for cars that are parked outdoors.
Most cars on the road these days are front-wheel drive vehicles. This type of car features a drivetrain that powers the two wheels at the front of the vehicle. There are several benefits of this type of drive train, including:
In a rear-wheel drive vehicle, the engine is positioned at the front of the vehicle and provides power to the wheels at the back of the car or truck. There are several benefits to a rear-wheel drive vehicle, including:
As the name suggests, 4-wheel drive (4WD) vehicles feature a drivetrain that is designed to deliver power to all four wheels. The vehicle may be designed to have a full or part-time system; part-time offers the additional choice for the driver to switch between rear and 4WD depending on their needs. There are several advantages of 4WD vehicles, including:
Although all-wheel and 4-wheel drive types may sound like different terms for the same thing, they work a little differently and are distinct enough to be considered their own category.
Regardless of how much or how little you drive your vehicle, car owners are eventually going to need to drop money on maintenance and repairs. After all, keeping your car on its maintenance schedule will prolong the lifespan of your vehicle and help prevent you from getting stranded on the side of the road.
Maybe you’re about to welcome a new member to your family and your two-seater won’t cut it anymore. Maybe you’re about to pick up off-roading as a new hobby and your minivan just isn’t up for the task. Perhaps you’ve decided to start driving for a ride-share service and you need a vehicle that’s more suited to transport passengers around town.
A change in employment – for better or for worse – can significantly impact whether it’s time to replace your car. A promotion or raise may mean you can comfortably afford that car which has been on your wish list, while a job loss may mean you need to trade your vehicle in for something more affordable.
Drive-ins don’t just operate in perfect weather; they’ll be open rain or shine. All the same, it’s a good idea to look at the weather report before you go and plan accordingly.
You can get concessions at the drive-in, but to save costs and also enjoy your favorite treats, you can also bring your own. Since you can’t have your car’s cabin lights on during the show, it’s best to pack food and drink that you can easily grab in the dark.
You and your fellow drivers are at the drive-in for one purpose: to enjoy a movie. Since you’re in your car and not in a theatre, it’s important to practice drive-in etiquette and not distract others from their viewing experience.
