Using headlights — Connecticut Permit Test

Using headlights on the Connecticut permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

If you turn on your wipers, turn on your headlights; in Connecticut it is the law.

Rain that is heavy enough for wipers is heavy enough to hide your car from the driver coming the other way.

Remember, if you turn on your wipers, turn on your headlights. It's the law.

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.38

Turn your headlights on when it begins to get dark, even a little early, because they help other drivers see you.

Headlights are as much about being seen as about seeing, and dusk is when a gray car disappears.

When it begins to get dark. Even if you turn them on a little early, you will help other drivers see you.

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.38

When driving away from a rising or setting sun, turn on your headlights, because drivers coming toward you may have trouble seeing your vehicle.

The sun behind you is in their eyes, and your car is a silhouette against it until the lights are on.

When driving away from a rising or setting sun, turn on your headlights. Drivers coming towards you may have trouble seeing your vehicle. Your headlights will help them see you.

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.38

Parking lights are for parked vehicles only, and you must never drive with only your parking lights on.

Parking lights show where a stationary car is. They do not show how fast one is moving toward you.

Do not drive at any time with only your parking lights on. Parking lights are for parking only.

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.38

Flash your high beams if you need to tell other road users you are there, and turn your headlights on whenever you have trouble seeing others.

If you are struggling to see them, they are struggling to see you. The lights fix both halves.

Remember to turn on your headlights whenever you have trouble seeing others.

Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.38

On the test

When does Connecticut law require headlights with the wipers on?

Whenever the wipers are turned on. Rain that is heavy enough for wipers is heavy enough to hide your car from the driver coming the other way. Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.38: “Remember, if you turn on your wipers, turn on your headlights. It's the law.”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Connecticut Driver's Manual, published by the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-16.