Do Amber Lights Really Make a Difference & Under What Conditions?

Amber is marginally better in fog at least in light fog. However in heavy tule fog like we get here in the Central Valley of California, it doesn’t matter what color light, you can’t see shit. I’ve been in fog where I could barely see the end of my hood. My fog lights are still clear color. I find all around I see better with them. When I’m driving on forest roads, narrow dirt and back country road at night I find clear lights much better, they light the sides of the roads much better. Which ever you get the difference will be minimal.
Also the key to fog lights no matter the color is that they be mounted and aimed low and throw a wide light beam.

 

I should note beam pattern with a tight cut off it the most important thing regardless of colour. For use in inclement weather

 

Amber all the things! Works great on night runs too. Sometimes I end up just turning my headlights off and using only the ambers. Makes a great difference with all the dust.

 

The popular misconception that amber lights reflect back to the eye less is based on confusing Rayleigh scattering of particles of smaller or similar diameter to the wavelength with Mie scattering, which occurs with larger particles. Rayleigh scattering is seen in sunsets because the distances are much much greater than what is achieved with automotive headlights so many more particles near the size of the wavelength are considered. Water droplets suspended in the air and snowflakes etc. due to weather while driving are much larger than the wavelength of visible light, so the reflection results from Mie scattering and is not a strong function of wavelength (color). In Mie scattering theory, the wavelength dependence disappears at a particle size larger than approx. 10 times the wavelength. This means that particles larger than ~10 microns have scatter functions that do not depend on wavelength. Water droplets which visibly scatter in your headlights are much larger than 10 microns, so the scattering is not a strong function of wavelength. To take this back to clouds and the sky, you see the wavelength dependent Rayleigh scattering in sunsets, but the white clouds which are analogous to fog droplets in your headlights simply reflect light irrespective of wavelength. That is, it is the clouds in the sky that are analogous to headlamp performance, not the colored sunsets.

The perception that fog lights are better for bad weather seems to originate from 1) the attenuation of intensity by the colored filtered lenses, and 2) the fact that bluish light tends to cause eye fatigue.

I think having fog lights at a low height and white headlights shining from a greater height help perception because they establish a color gradient that is a strong function of height. Thus different heights occurring in the foreground receive different color blends and thus have an additional optical clue regarding height, of course being most pronounced in the immediate foreground where the difference of relative angle of fog vs. headlight is greater. I think this illumination color difference as a function of height produces additional contrast which helps us judge better the spatial position of the illuminated field.

 

Better in fog, dust, snow.
Amber is a longer wavelength so penetrates more than reflects.
Also easier on the eyes - long drives in the dark, the white can get fatiguing.

100% you won't regret having some amber. Make it so you can be selective and put only the ambers on.

 

you use all spot lights and no floods?

 

It won't make any difference in the mall parking lot

 

Nah, its a combination of different lenses.

18" bar - driving light lens
42" bar - Outer 2 are floods, inner 5 are driving - I also have white lenses I can swap out if I get tired of the amber.
Ditch - combo lenses (driving and flood)
5" pods - driving lenses

 

This yes.

 

No offense op but your truck is so pristine and pretty, do you ever take it off road?

 

Article on yellow fogs.
https://www.caranddriver.com/car-accessories/a38451079/yellow-fog-lights/

 

BullShit. Those are the people impressed the most!

 

With all due respect I simply want to put on the record that this is not a significant effect for headlights. This perception arises from the fact that more bluish light causes more eye fatigue and mis-attributes Mie scattering with Rayleigh scattering. There is not a significant wavelength vs. penetration relationship for headlights in the visible wavelength range in naturally occurring conditions such as weather and dust.

That said, I run yellow DD fogs and really like them.

 

Enough said...

 

Oz, the link for the mounts are in this post

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-shout-out-to-fab-fours.828306/#post-29966173

 

I literally just put them on yesterday intended to test the difference, AMBER alert!

 

Yellow fogs help the most in snowy conditions and light fog vs white/blue light imo

 

I definitely have better visibility in poor conditions with a warmer colored light

 

I think in the dust is the most surprising results. I haven’t driven a lot of snow, recently or with amber lights, really.
Fogs are diode dynamic, oem led headlight, diode dynamic auxiliary fog and driving bars behind the grill.

 

Nice looking rig! That grille is awesome. Barely see those around. Nice!