38.5. How should the driver of a vehicle being overtaken, who is driving with high beam headlights at night, act?
UAЯк повинен діяти водій автомобіля, який обганяють, що рухається з дальнім світлом фар у темний час доби?
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This is an exam question from the Traffic Rules of Ukraine about safety during nighttime and the correct use of lighting devices during maneuvers. It leads to an important principle of traffic regulations: high beams improve visibility but can blind other drivers, particularly through rearview mirrors. In the theoretical exam, such situations test not just “formality,” but an understanding of the real risk of blinding precisely in the critical seconds of overtaking.
The question checks knowledge of the section of the Traffic Rules on the use of external lighting devices (points 19.1–19.2) in combination with the requirements for overtaking and not obstructing it (point 14.5). The logic is as follows: the driver in front may continue driving with high beams for better visibility, but at the moment when the vehicles are side by side in adjacent lanes, their lights start to actively hit the mirrors of the overtaking driver, causing glare. That is why the correct action is tied to the moment they are “side by side” — this is the most precise and safest time to switch to low beams so as not to interfere with the completion of the maneuver.
The analysis of the answer options comes down to the timing of switching. The option to switch as soon as the overtaking driver starts to move into the oncoming lane is too early: it may worsen the road illumination ahead at a time when the overtaking is still ongoing and both drivers need maximum visibility. The option of driving on parking lights for a “significant distance” contradicts the requirements of 19.1 (while driving at night, headlights must be on) and does not correctly solve the problem of glare. Instead, the correct option is consistent with point 19.2: high beams should be turned off when they can blind another driver, and the greatest risk arises precisely when the vehicles are side by side during overtaking.
Clause 19.2
The high beam headlights must be switched to low beam at least 250 m before an oncoming vehicle, as well as in cases where they may dazzle other drivers, in particular when driving behind a vehicle at such a distance that the headlights may dazzle the driver of that vehicle through the rear-view mirrors.
Clause 19.1
At night and in conditions of insufficient visibility, regardless of the degree of road illumination, as well as in tunnels, the headlights (high or low beam) must be switched on on a moving vehicle.
Clause 14.5
The driver of a vehicle being overtaken is prohibited from obstructing the overtaking by increasing speed or by other actions.
Clause 1.10 (term "Night time")
Night time — the part of the day from the end of evening twilight to the beginning of morning twilight.
Thus, the correct answer is: "Switch to low beam headlights at the moment when the vehicles are side by side, moving in adjacent lanes," given that according to clause 19.2, the high beam must be switched to low beam whenever it may dazzle another driver (in this situation — the driver performing the overtaking/passing, who may be dazzled through the mirrors), and clause 14.5 additionally prohibits creating obstacles to overtaking by other actions.
Imagine the situation: it’s nighttime, you are driving ahead with your high beams on, and another car behind you starts to overtake. During the overtaking maneuver, the cars are briefly side by side in adjacent lanes. At this moment, your headlights can shine into the side mirrors of the overtaking car and dazzle its driver. Even a few seconds of glare reduces the driver’s control over the traffic situation and makes completing the overtaking maneuver dangerous.
The rules require you to avoid dazzling other road users with your headlights. Specifically, the Traffic Rules (in particular, the requirements of point 19.2 regarding the use of high beams) establish the principle: high beams should only be used when they do not interfere with others. During overtaking, this principle works both ways: the overtaking driver should no longer dazzle the driver being overtaken, and the driver being overtaken must not cause glare at the moment the cars are side by side.
Why should you switch exactly when the cars are level? If you do it much earlier, there may be a period when both cars are driving at higher speeds with only low beams during the preparation/execution of the overtaking, and the visibility of the road for both will be worse than it could be with high beams. If you switch too late, when the cars are already level or almost finished overtaking, the driver next to you will get a bright light in the mirrors at the most critical moment of the maneuver.
Therefore, the safest and most logical option is to keep the high beams on for sufficient visibility ahead, but exactly at the moment when the overtaking car is level with you in the adjacent lane, switch to low beams to avoid dazzling its driver through the mirrors.
Thus, the correct answer is: "Switch to low beam headlights at the moment when the cars are level, moving in adjacent lanes," because this prevents dazzling the overtaking driver at the critical moment and at the same time does not reduce the road visibility for both cars prematurely.