Safe driving and emergencies
An oncoming vehicle's headlights are so bright that you can barely see the road. Where should you look?
- Toward the right edge of your lane, watching the other vehicle out of the corner of your eye. Correct answer
- Straight at the oncoming headlights, so that your eyes adjust to them.
- Straight ahead, after switching your own high beams on so the other driver dims theirs.
Why
The handbook's answer is to move your eyes, not your lights. Look toward the right edge of your lane and keep the oncoming vehicle in the corner of your eye, so you stay on the road without taking the glare head-on. Looking directly into the oncoming headlights is the first thing the handbook tells you not to do. Answering with your own high beams is the second, and it says why: doing that only makes it harder for both of you to see. Two rules stand behind this. Drop to low beams once an oncoming vehicle is 500 feet off, or 300 feet away when you are the one behind. And if a vehicle with only one light comes at you, drive as far to the right as you can, because it could be a bicyclist, a motorcyclist or a car with a headlight out.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Toward the right edge of your lane, watching the other vehicle out of the corner of your eye.
The rule behind this one
Safe driving and emergencies in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on safe driving and emergencies
- How far back from the air bag cover should you sit, and how is that distance measured?
- You are using hand-to-hand (push/pull) steering. How should you hold the wheel?
- In which situation does the handbook call for hand-over-hand steering?
- You are turning while backing up and need to look behind you to see where you are going. How should you hold the steering wheel?