Headlight law — Louisiana Permit Test
Headlight law on the Louisiana permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Louisiana law requires headlights, not just parking lights, to be on between sunset and sunrise.
Parking lights are too dim for others to see you coming. Full headlights are what make you visible after dark.
Louisiana law requires that your headlights (not just parking lights) be on between sunset and sunrise.
You must switch to low beams when approaching within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle.
High beams shine right into an oncoming driver's eyes and can blind them as you pass.
You are required by law to use lower headlight beams, not your “bright lights”, when approaching within 500 feet of or following within 200 feet of another vehicle.
You must use low beams when following within 200 feet of another vehicle.
Your high beams reflect off the mirrors of the car ahead and blind its driver.
You are required by law to use lower headlight beams, not your “bright lights”, when approaching within 500 feet of or following within 200 feet of another vehicle.
Headlights are required whenever rain or moisture in the air means you need your windshield wipers.
If it is wet enough for wipers, it is hard enough for others to see you. Headlights make you show up.
In addition, headlights are required when moisture in the air or precipitation necessitates the use of windshield wipers and when weather conditions are unfavorable.
Headlights must be on when weather makes it hard for others to see your vehicle clearly from 500 feet.
Fog, smoke or heavy rain can hide a car in daylight. Headlights let others spot you in time.
The law further requires that your headlights be on when driving in weather conditions that make it difficult for other people to see your vehicle clearly from a distance of 500 feet.
Do not drive with your emergency flashers on unless there is a need.
Flashers tell others something is wrong. Using them for no reason confuses drivers and hides your turn signals.
Do not drive with your emergency signal lights (flashers) on unless there is a need.
A rear fog light may only be used in dense fog or a similar hazard that seriously cuts visibility, and is switched off when visibility improves.
A rear fog light is very bright. In clear weather it dazzles the driver behind you.
A rear fog light must only be used in a dense fog or similar hazardous condition that results in seriously reduced visibility.
On the test
Louisiana law requires your headlights to be on between what times?
Sunset and sunrise. Parking lights are too dim for others to see you coming. Full headlights are what make you visible after dark. Class D & E Driver's Guide, p.75: “Louisiana law requires that your headlights (not just parking lights) be on between sunset and sunrise.”
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.
What it costs
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- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Class D & E Driver's Guide, published by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-04.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/LA.pdf (Class D & E Driver's Guide, DPSMV2052 (R08/25), Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-14; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/LA.pages.txt (the plain pdftotext fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/LA-exam.html (the OMV's Permits page, https://expresslane.la.gov/omv/drivers/personal-driver-s-licenses/permits/, archived 2026-10-04; the 40-question count)
- https://expresslane.la.gov/omv/resources/driver-manuals/
- https://expresslane.la.gov/omv/drivers/personal-driver-s-licenses/new-licenses/ (read 2026-10-04; "An 80% is the minimum passing score for the knowledge test.")