I think fog lamps should be able to be used without the low beams on. I've had situations in a previous car when I was in blinding snow and it was dusk out and I wanted forward lighting, but the low beams would whitewash my forward vision. So I had my fog lamps on without the head lamps (and just had the parking lamps on), I could see and be seen. This was an aftermarket install, so I wasn't hindered by the typical behavior where the fog lamps go out if you turn the low beams off (as they do in our MDX).
I will say that the fog lamps on our MDX are the best I've ever had. The difference in lighting, especially side lighting, is incredible. They're very useful for driving around town and in the neighborhood because of the increased contrast and side lighting. On the open road, however, they become distracting because your eye focuses on the foreground too much because of the vast spread of light there.
So I use them sometimes and I don't use them sometimes. It depends on the situation.
Our Honda doesn't have them, but I can add them from the Honda accessory catalog, which I do plan to do.