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California driving lesson · Vehicle Control Basics

Horn & headlights

A 3-minute lesson from the California course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Vehicle Control Basics
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
17

Your horn and headlights help you communicate and be seen. The horn warns others; headlights help you see ahead and help others see you, especially at dusk, in bad weather and in tunnels.

Use your horn to:

  • Let other drivers know you are there or warn of a hazard
  • Avoid collisions
  • Alert oncoming traffic on narrow mountain roads where you cannot see at least 200 feet ahead
Handbook p. 17 ↗
500 ft

Dim high beams to low beams within this distance of an oncoming vehicle

Handbook p. 17 ↗
300 ft

Dim high beams within this distance of a vehicle you are following

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Know the rule

It is illegal to drive using only parking lights.

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Use your headlights:

  • When it is too dark to see from 1,000 feet away
  • Beginning 30 minutes after sunset
  • Until 30 minutes before sunrise
  • In adverse weather
  • When clouds, dust, smoke, or fog prevent you from seeing other vehicles
  • On mountain roads and in tunnels (even on sunny days)
  • When a road sign states that headlights must be on
  • To help others see you, especially when the sun is low on the horizon
Handbook p. 17 ↗

Know the rule

If you need your windshield wipers because of fog, rain, or snow, you must turn on your low-beam headlights.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
30 min

Headlights on from 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise

Handbook p. 17 ↗

Put it into practice

It's a bright afternoon and you enter a mountain tunnel. Turn your headlights on anyway: the handbook says to use them on mountain roads and in tunnels even on sunny days.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

On narrow mountain roads, when should you use your horn to alert oncoming traffic?
  1. When you cannot see at least 500 feet ahead
  2. When you cannot see at least 100 feet ahead
  3. Whenever you are on a mountain road
  4. When you cannot see at least 200 feet ahead

Answer: When you cannot see at least 200 feet ahead

Use your horn on narrow mountain roads where you cannot see at least 200 feet ahead.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
Within how many feet of an oncoming vehicle must you dim your high beams?
  1. 500 feet
  2. 300 feet
  3. 1,000 feet
  4. 100 feet

Answer: 500 feet

Dim your high beams to low beams within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
Within how many feet of a vehicle you are following must you dim your high beams?
  1. 500 feet
  2. 300 feet
  3. 1,000 feet
  4. 150 feet

Answer: 300 feet

Dim your high beams within 300 feet of a vehicle you are following, versus 500 feet for oncoming vehicles.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
At what distance should you turn on your headlights because it's too dark to see?
  1. When you cannot see from 500 feet away
  2. When you cannot see from 300 feet away
  3. When you cannot see from 1,000 feet away
  4. When you cannot see from 100 feet away

Answer: When you cannot see from 1,000 feet away

Use your headlights when it is too dark to see from 1,000 feet away.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
How many minutes after sunset should you turn on your headlights?
  1. 15 minutes
  2. 60 minutes
  3. 45 minutes
  4. 30 minutes

Answer: 30 minutes

Headlights must be used beginning 30 minutes after sunset.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
You must turn on your low-beam headlights if you need your windshield wipers due to rain, fog, or snow.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: True

If you must use your wipers for fog, rain, or snow, you must also turn on your low-beam headlights.

Handbook p. 17 ↗
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