Lights and wipers Wipers on, headlights on
Turn on your headlights in the dark and in bad weather: if you need your windshield wipers because of rain, fog or snow, your low beams must be on. Dim your high beams to low beams within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle and within 300 feet of a vehicle you are following.
CVC 24400(b), (c) · CVC 24409(a), (b) · CVC 280 (darkness) · CA Driver's Handbook, "Using Your Headlights"Do you need headlights on in the rain in California?
Yes: if you need your wipers for rain, fog or snow, turn on your low-beam headlights (CVC 24400; Driver’s Handbook). That goes in daytime too.
Why this rule exists
In rain and fog, headlights are how others see you. High beams blind the driver coming toward you, and the driver ahead through the mirrors.
Step by step on the road
- Turn on your headlights from 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise.
- Turn them on any time it is too dark to see a person or a vehicle 1,000 feet away.
- Make it a habit: wipers on, headlights on, on low beam.
- Slow down a little on a wet road.
- At night, dim to low beams within 500 feet of a car coming toward you and within 300 feet of a car you follow.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the headlights off in daytime rain because it is light enough to see.
- Driving with only the parking lights on.
- Using high beams in fog, where they reflect back and cause glare.
On the DMV drive test
Before the drive, the examiner asks you to find the windshield wiper, defroster, emergency flasher and headlight controls (DL 955 pre-drive items 11 to 14). In bad weather you must show that they work, or the test is rescheduled. On the drive, not using the wipers, defroster or headlights when the weather or darkness requires them is a critical driving error. The DMV's own test tips say: turn on your headlights if you need your wipers.
Based on the DMV’s Driving Test Criteria (DL 955) and its score sheet (DL 32). How the drive test works ›Questions people ask
When are headlights required in California?
During darkness: from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, or whenever you cannot see a person or vehicle 1,000 feet away (CVC 280). Also when your wipers are in continuous use.
What counts as bad weather for the headlight law?
CVC 24400(c): weather in which your wipers must be in continuous use, or in which you cannot clearly see a person or a vehicle 1,000 feet away.
Is it illegal to drive with only parking lights in California?
Yes. The California Driver's Handbook says it is illegal to drive using only parking lights.
Test yourself
Kees' three questions on this rule, the “Did you know?” facts and his tip come with the drive, in Voorrah! Pro.
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