Night Driving
Headlights, tunnels, high/low beam rules
When you cannot see a pedestrian clearly at night, you should maintain your speed and assume the road is clear.
🌙 Night Driving Cheat Sheet
Key facts from this topic. Print this page for quick offline reference.
TRUE: You must turn on your headlights from sunset to sunrise.
Headlights must be on from sunset to sunrise.
TRUE: You must turn on your headlights when entering a tunnel during daytime.
You must turn on headlights when entering a tunnel, even during the day.
TRUE: When driving at night, you should use high beams as your default and switch to low beams when other vehicles approach.
High beams provide better visibility at night and should be used as the default on dark roads.
TRUE: You should always use low beams in the city to avoid blinding other drivers.
In well-lit urban areas with frequent oncoming traffic, low beams should be used to avoid blinding other drivers and pedestrians.
TRUE: When two vehicles approach each other at night, both should switch to low beams.
When meeting an oncoming vehicle at night, both drivers should switch to low beams to prevent mutual blinding.
TRUE: At night, your stopping distance should be within the range illuminated by your headlights.
You should always drive at a speed that allows you to stop within the distance illuminated by your headlights.
TRUE: If an oncoming vehicle does not dim their high beams, you should flash your lights to remind them.
If an oncoming vehicle has their high beams on, you may briefly flash your headlights to remind them to switch to low beams.
TRUE: Fog lights should be used in foggy conditions and turned off when fog clears.
Fog lights are designed for foggy conditions and should be turned off when visibility improves.
TRUE: You should reduce speed when driving at night compared to daytime driving on the same road.
Night driving requires reduced speed because visibility is significantly less than daytime.
TRUE: After exiting a brightly lit tunnel into darkness, you should slow down because your eyes need time to adjust.
When transitioning from a bright tunnel to a dark road, your eyes need several seconds to adjust to the darkness.
FALSE: When following another vehicle at night, you should keep your high beams on for better visibility.
When following another vehicle, use low beams.
FALSE: Parking lights alone are sufficient when driving at dusk.
Parking lights (small lights) are NOT sufficient for driving.
FALSE: When blinded by oncoming headlights, you should look directly at the lights to gauge the distance of the other vehicle.
Never look directly at oncoming headlights.
FALSE: When driving at night in heavy rain, you should use high beams for maximum visibility.
In heavy rain at night, use low beams, not high beams.
FALSE: When you cannot see a pedestrian clearly at night, you should maintain your speed and assume the road is clear.
At night, pedestrians in dark clothing can be nearly invisible.