When driving at night on a dimly lit street, you should:
Answers
Drive slowly enough that you can stop within the area illuminated by your headlights.
Turn on your high beam headlights to better see the vehicles ahead of you.
Keep the instrument panel lights bright to be more visible to other drivers.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is:
Drive slowly enough that you can stop within the area illuminated by your headlights.
Explanation:
When driving at night on dimly lit streets, visibility is significantly reduced, which means you need to take extra precautions to ensure safety. The main reason for this is that headlights only illuminate a limited area ahead of you. At night, it is harder to see obstacles, pedestrians, or other vehicles that may be in your path. Driving at an appropriate speed is crucial because it allows you to react in time to any unexpected situations within the range of your headlights.
Your headlights typically illuminate a specific distance ahead of you, and driving too fast reduces your ability to stop if an obstacle appears within that illuminated range. If you drive too quickly, you may not have enough time to respond to a pedestrian crossing the street, an animal in your path, or even a stopped vehicle. Therefore, it’s important to drive at a speed that allows you to stop safely within the illuminated area of your headlights.
Why the other options are not correct:
- Turn on your high beam headlights to better see the vehicles ahead of you: While high beams can help illuminate more of the road ahead, they can also cause glare for other drivers, making it harder for them to see. High beams should be used only when there are no other vehicles around, or you should switch to low beams when approaching other cars to prevent blinding them.
- Keep the instrument panel lights bright to be more visible to other drivers: This is unnecessary. The brightness of your instrument panel does not significantly affect your visibility to other drivers. It’s more important to keep your headlights functioning correctly and ensure you’re driving at a safe speed for the conditions.
Thus, the best practice is to drive slowly enough that you can stop within the illuminated range of your headlights, ensuring safety for both you and other road users.