You must dim your high beam headlights when you are within ______ of another vehicle, either when meeting or following a vehicle.
- 500 metres
- 150 metres ✓
- 100 metres
- 60 metres
Answer: B. 150 metres
You must dim your high beam headlights when you are within 150 metres of another vehicle, whether you are meeting it or following it.
Why this is the answer
The handbook sets one fixed gap for switching from high beams to low beams: 150 metres, and it applies both when you meet an oncoming vehicle and when you follow one. The same chapter adds a courtesy point, telling drivers who struggle to judge distance to dim early rather than waiting until they are right at the limit. So the number to hold on to is 150 metres, not the shorter figures that describe something else, like how far your lights actually shine.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. 500 metres — 500 metres is far wider than the gap the handbook gives, so you would be dimming long before the law requires it.
- C. 100 metres — 100 metres is the distance high beams light up the road ahead, not the distance at which you must dim for another vehicle.
- D. 60 metres — 60 metres is not the figure the handbook states for dimming your high beams near other vehicles.
Remember it
Your high beams throw light about 100 metres, but the legal switch point is wider than that, so drop to low beams before the other vehicle gets inside your beam.