Heh, okay. Now I don't believe I've ever heard them called "Parking Lights" which may be the crux of the problem. The most common name I encountered is "Fog Lamps" or "Running Lights". Therefore I thought they were supposed to be used in fog, but frankly I heard they were never to be used, as the article says, you don't use them when operating the vehicle.
All I knew about fog is that you definitely don't light your high beams. Because the higher beams will bounce off the fog, reflecting back in your face, and reducing your effective attention and not benefiting other motorists at all.
When I saw "Parking Lights" my first thought was "Hazard Blinkers" because universally in these United States, everyone who parks, especially dangerously or illegally, turns on the hazards, not merely the parking lights. Those blinking hazards surely indicate a car that is not in trouble but merely waiting for its operator to return.
Hazards are not mentioned in the article; I wonder what they'd say about this usage.
Where do you drive? In the United States everyone understands the custom regarding hazard lights. They serve two purposes:
1. To indicate that you intend to drive very slowly in the left lane for no apparent reason.
2. To indicate you just ran into Whole Foods for a La Croix and that's why your Tesla or Mercedes SUV is parked in the fire lane with a French bulldog in the back seat.
I have not seen people using their hazard lights to park, so I wonder what country you got your driving experience in. The American custom varies from place to place. In Los Angeles the hazard lights are never used to park, even when the rear end of the car sticks out into the street because you were rushed for a meeting or yoga class and couldn't bother to parallel park. In Portland the drivers use orange cones and wear a safety vest to park, not the hazard lights. In Las Vegas drivers don't use the hazard lights, or any lights, because driving with the lights off even at night saves electricity.
All I knew about fog is that you definitely don't light your high beams. Because the higher beams will bounce off the fog, reflecting back in your face, and reducing your effective attention and not benefiting other motorists at all.
When I saw "Parking Lights" my first thought was "Hazard Blinkers" because universally in these United States, everyone who parks, especially dangerously or illegally, turns on the hazards, not merely the parking lights. Those blinking hazards surely indicate a car that is not in trouble but merely waiting for its operator to return.
Hazards are not mentioned in the article; I wonder what they'd say about this usage.