Headlight rules — New York Permit Test
Headlight rules on the New York permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
The law requires a driver to use their headlights from one-half hour after the sun sets to one-half hour before the sun rises, when visibility is less than 1,000 feet, and when they use their windshield wipers to clear rain, snow or sleet.
The lights are as much about being seen as about seeing. All three rules follow from that.
The law requires you to use your headlights from one-half hour after the sun sets to one-half hour before the sun rises, when visibility is less than 1,000 feet (300 m) and when you use your windshield wipers to clear rain, snow or sleet.
A driver should turn their headlights on at dawn, dusk and in fog, and should not use parking lights or daytime running lights as a replacement.
Daytime running lights leave the back of the car dark. Headlights light both ends.
Turn your headlights on at dawn, dusk and in fog.
Headlights must be on low beam when a driver is within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle or within 200 feet of a vehicle ahead, even where the vehicle ahead is in a different lane.
High beams blind the driver you are aiming at. Low beam gives their eyes back.
Your headlights must be on low beam when you are within 500 feet (150 m) of an oncoming vehicle or within 200 feet (60 m) of a vehicle ahead of you, even if the vehicle ahead is in a different lane.
If an approaching driver does not dim their headlights, a driver should flash their headlights to high beam for a second, then return to low beam.
A quick flash is a reminder. Leaving your own high beams on blinds you both.
If an approaching driver does not dim the headlights, flash your headlights to high beam for a second, then return to low beam.
To help avoid the glare of approaching high beams a driver should move their eyes to the right and use the road edge as a guide until the approaching vehicle passes by.
Looking at the lights blinds you for seconds afterward. The road edge keeps you straight.
To help avoid the glare of approaching high beams, move your eyes to the right.
If an oncoming driver flashes their headlights during a period of low visibility, it means the driver's vehicle was difficult to see and they should turn on their headlights.
The flash is a message rather than a complaint. It says nobody can see you.
If an oncoming driver flashes headlights at you during a period of low visibility, it means your vehicle was difficult to see and you should turn on your headlights.
On the test
Below what visibility must headlights be on?
1,000 feet. The lights are as much about being seen as about seeing. All three rules follow from that. New York State Driver's Manual, p.63: “The law requires you to use your headlights from one-half hour after the sun sets to one-half hour before the sun rises, when visibility is less than 1,000 feet (300 m) and when you use your windshield wipers to clear rain, snow or sleet.”
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 New York State Driver's Manual, published by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-15.