A 3-minute lesson from the Massachusetts course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Your lights help you see and be seen, and your horn warns others. Night driving is more dangerous than daytime driving because vehicles, pedestrians and obstacles are harder to see, so it has its own rules.
Use your horn to:
Warn pedestrians or other drivers of possible trouble
When your vehicle breaks down, use your emergency lights, move as far to the side of the road as you can, and stay off the road. Never change a flat tire in a traffic lane. Emergency lights can also warn drivers behind you of a crash or hazard.
Use high beams only in dark areas where you can't see the road surface ahead. If an oncoming driver keeps high beams on after you flick your lights, stay to the right and do not turn on your high beams.
On a dark rural road with high beams on, you see taillights ahead. Switch to low beams once you're within 200 feet of that vehicle. For an oncoming car, you'd switch at 500 feet.
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.
During what hours must you use your headlights in Massachusetts?
Only after 10 p.m.
From sunset to sunrise
From a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise
From a half hour before sunset to a half hour after sunrise
Answer: From a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise
Headlights are required from a half hour after sunset until a half hour before sunrise.