Headlights — Maryland Permit Test
Headlights on the Maryland permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Headlights must be on from sunset to sunrise and whenever visibility is less than 1,000 feet.
A thousand feet is the point where you can no longer make out people and vehicles ahead — so it is the moment headlights stop being optional.
Headlights must be on whenever windshield wipers are in use because of weather.
If it is raining hard enough to need wipers, it is dark enough for other drivers to lose you against the road.
Dim high beams to low beams within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle.
Further out your high beams are helping you; closer in they are in the other driver's eyes, and the law fixes where that line falls.
Dim high beams to low beams within 300 feet of a vehicle you are following.
Your high beams reflect off the mirrors of the car ahead straight into their eyes.
In fog, use low-beam headlights; high beams reflect off the fog and reduce your visibility.
Fog reflects high beams back at you, so more light makes visibility worse rather than better.
Driving with only parking lights on is not a lawful substitute for headlights.
Parking lights show that a car is there but not how wide it is or how fast it is moving.
On the test
Headlights must be turned on from sunset to sunrise and whenever visibility is less than...
1,000 feet. A thousand feet is the point where you can no longer make out people and vehicles ahead — so it is the moment headlights stop being optional.
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.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Maryland Driver's Manual, published by the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-08-29.
- https://mva.maryland.gov/licenses-ids/prepare-drivers-license-test/knowledge-tests
- https://mva.maryland.gov/your-mva-guide/teens-new-drivers/learners-permit
- https://mva.maryland.gov/drivers/Pages/rookie-driver-general-learners.aspx
- https://mva.maryland.gov/licenses-ids/driver-education-safety/maryland-drivers-manuals
- https://mva.maryland.gov/media/148/download?inline=
- https://mva.maryland.gov/your-mva-guide/drivers-revoked-or-suspended-licenses/driving-under-influence-dui
- https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/transportation/title-21/subtitle-8/section-21-801-1/
- https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/transportation/title-22/subtitle-4/section-22-412-3/
- https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2013/article-gtr/section-21-706
- https://news.maryland.gov/msp/2023/08/24/stop-for-school-buses-what-are-the-laws-in-maryland/
- https://zerodeathsmd.gov/news/maryland-school-bus-laws-and-safety-tips/
- https://legalclarity.org/maryland-inspection-requirements-for-vehicles-what-to-know/
- https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/transportation/title-22/subtitle-2/
- https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/transportation/title-22/subtitle-2/section-22-206