YieldGoCarMotorcycleCDL
  • Car coming? Dim your high beams
  • Fog? Low beams and slow down
  • Hydroplaning? Ease off the gas
  • Bridge ahead in winter? It ices first

See, be seen, and leave room to stop

At night you can only react to what your headlights show, so your speed has to let you stop within that distance. Rain, snow and ice make tires slip and stretch your stopping distance further still. The answer to almost every bad-conditions question is the same: slow down, add space, and make every move with the wheel, gas and brake gently.

Six situations in the dark and the wet

Your car is teal; headlight beams are drawn in pale yellow.

  1. You

    1 High beams on a dark road

    You have your high beams on along an unlit road when a car appears, coming toward you.

    What to do: Switch to low beams until it has passed, then go back to high beams.

    Why: High beams dazzle the other driver. Dim them for oncoming cars and when you follow close behind someone; your handbook gives the distances your state uses.

  2. You

    2 Dazzled by oncoming lights

    An oncoming driver keeps high beams on, and the glare makes the road ahead hard to see.

    What to do: Look toward the white line at the right edge of your lane and slow down until the car has gone by.

    Why: Watching the edge line keeps you in your lane without staring into the lights. Flashing your own high beams back only leaves two drivers dazzled.

  3. You

    3 Thick fog

    You drive into fog so thick that you can see only a short way ahead.

    What to do: Use low beams, slow down and leave more room. If it gets too thick to go on, pull completely off the road and wait.

    Why: High beams bounce off the fog and back into your eyes. Low beams light the road beneath it.

  4. You

    4 Water on the road

    In heavy rain your car suddenly feels light and the steering stops responding.

    What to do: Ease off the gas, hold the wheel straight, and don't brake hard until the tires grip again.

    Why: The tires are riding on a film of water. Slowing gently lets them reach the road; hard braking or a sharp turn can send the car spinning.

  5. You

    5 The back of the car slides

    On a slippery curve the back end of your car starts to slide out to the right.

    What to do: Take your foot off the gas and steer smoothly toward where you want the front of the car to go.

    Why: Steering along your path lets the wheels line up again. Stamping on the brake locks them and makes the slide worse.

  6. You

    6 A bridge on a frosty morning

    It is near freezing. The road has felt fine so far, but a bridge is coming up.

    What to do: Slow down before the bridge and cross it without braking or turning sharply.

    Why: Bridges and overpasses lose heat from above and below, so they ice over before the rest of the road. Shaded spots do the same.

Answers that trip people up

  • "High beams help me see in fog."They reflect back at you. Low beams are the right choice.
  • "Roads are most slippery after hours of rain."They are often slickest in the first minutes, as the rain lifts oil off the surface.
  • "Four-wheel drive helps me stop on ice."It helps you get moving, not stop. Every vehicle needs more room on ice.
  • "Cruise control is fine on wet roads."Switch it off when the road is wet or icy, so your own foot controls the speed.

Check yourself

1. Driving at night with high beams on, you catch up to a car ahead. What do you do?

2. Which part of the road usually ices over first?

Practice driving conditions for your state

Choose a state to open its practice on night driving and weather, built from that state's handbook.