Colorado driving lesson · Weather & Special Conditions
Night driving, hills & curves
A 3-minute lesson from the Colorado course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Dawn, dusk and night driving are riskier: you see less, your headlights light a limited area, and glare can blind you. Colorado sets exact distances for using and dimming your lights.
Know the rule
Headlights are required from sunset to sunrise, or whenever visibility is less than 1,000 feet. Driving with low beams or daytime running lights on at all times reduces risk.
A vehicle parked beside the road, attended or not, must have parking lights on from sunset to sunrise or when visibility is less than 1,000 feet. Never drive with only parking lights on.
Never look directly into oncoming headlights. Look below the glare and use the painted edge lines to guide you, then look back up once the vehicle has passed.
Always slow down before entering a curve; too fast and your tires can't grip, so you skid. Begin accelerating only after reaching the middle of the curve.
On a dark rural highway with high beams on, you see headlights coming over a rise ahead. Dim to low beams before the car comes within 500 feet, and keep your eyes on the right edge line until it passes.
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.
When must you drive with your headlights on, according to Colorado law?
From 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. year-round
Only when it's raining
From sunset to sunrise, or when visibility is less than 1,000 feet
Only on highways
Answer: From sunset to sunrise, or when visibility is less than 1,000 feet
Colorado law requires headlights from sunset to sunrise or whenever visibility is less than 1,000 feet.