Night driving

When to use headlights

You must turn on your vehicle’s headlights:

from 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise
at any other time when you can’t clearly see a person or vehicle 100 metres away.

Never drive with just the park lights on.

Note: park lights are also known as position lamps.

When to dip your vehicle’s headlights

You must dip your vehicle’s headlights:

when other vehicles are coming towards you, so that you don’t blind the oncoming driver
when following other vehicles
when approaching a police officer who's directing traffic
when parked.

Dipping headlights for an oncoming vehicle

Night driving — New Zealand Road Code illustration

If there's plenty of street lighting, you should be able to drive with your headlights dipped the whole time.

Important!

Be aware that at night, because most road signs are highly reflective, your lights shining on them may make you think you can see further than you really can. Make sure you drive more slowly and carefully at night, particularly on unfamiliar roads.

Speed at night

You must drive at a safe speed at night. This means that:

on a road with lanes, you must be able to stop in the length of clear road you can see in front of you
on a road with no lanes, you must be able to stop in half the length of clear road you can see in front of you.

Safety tips for night driving

Driving at night is more dangerous than driving during the day. To improve your safety on the road at night:

make sure your windscreen and lights are clean
never wear dark glasses
watch for pedestrians and cyclists – they're harder to see at night
stop and rest if you're sleepy
don’t blind other drivers with your vehicle’s headlights – dip them when vehicles are coming towards you or when you're following another vehicle
if you're blinded by the lights of oncoming vehicles:
- slow down or stop
- try to keep your eyes on the left side of the road, so you’re not looking directly at the light
drive at a speed that means you can see the road at least 2 seconds ahead
in an area without street lighting, use full beam as appropriate to increase how far you can see.