Lights — Virginia Permit Test
Lights on the Virginia permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Virginia law requires headlights in rain, fog, snow or sleet when visibility drops to 500 feet, and whenever you use your wipers because of the weather.
The lights are there so others can see you, not only so you can see the road.
You must use your headlights whenever you use your windshield wipers as a result of bad weather.
You must use headlights from sunset to sunrise.
Dusk is when the light fades but your eyes have not caught up yet.
You must use headlights from sunset to sunrise.
When following another vehicle, use low beams whenever you are within 200 feet of it.
High beams fill their mirror with light and take their night vision away.
When following, use low-beams whenever you are within 200 feet of the vehicle ahead.
Use high beams on highways unless a vehicle is within 500 feet coming toward you.
A driver blinded by your lights cannot see the edge of the road either.
Use high-beam headlights on highways, unless another vehicle is within 500 feet coming toward you.
If an oncoming driver leaves their high beams on, glance toward the side of the road rather than at the lights, and do not switch your own high beams on in return.
Two blinded drivers on the same road is worse than one.
avoid looking directly at the bright lights. Glance toward the side of the road, then look quickly ahead to determine the other vehicle’s position.
Use low beams in cities and towns, except on streets with no lighting.
In a lit street high beams add nothing and blind everyone coming the other way.
Use low-beams when driving in cities and towns, except on streets where there is no lighting.
On the test
When does Virginia law require headlights in bad weather?
Whenever you use your wipers because of the weather. The lights are there so others can see you, not only so you can see the road. Virginia Driver's Manual, p.22: “You must use your headlights whenever you use your windshield wipers as a result of bad weather.”
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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Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Virginia Driver's Manual, published by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-06.