When driving at night, you should:
- Always use your high beams.
- Look directly at the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.
- Increase your following distance. ✓
Answer: C. Increase your following distance.
When driving at night, increase your following distance so you have more room and more time to react.
Why this is the answer
The handbook's spacing advice is simple: following too closely blocks your view of the road ahead and leaves you too little time to react if the driver in front brakes suddenly. In heavy fog it says outright to increase your following distance, since you must be able to stop within the space you can see. At night you also see less of the road ahead, so the same habit applies: hang back and leave more room.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Always use your high beams. — Running high beams all the time is not what the handbook says; in heavy fog it specifically warns that high beams reflect back and cause glare, and it tells you to use low beams instead.
- B. Look directly at the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. — Nothing in these passages tells you to look straight into the headlights of an oncoming vehicle; the guidance about limited visibility is about slowing down and keeping more space, not about where to aim your eyes at oncoming lights.
Remember it
When you can't see as far, hang back further — extra space buys you the seconds you need to react.
Official handbook: California Driver Handbook (DL 600), Section 8: Safe Driving, p. 64