44.10. When driving outside a populated area during daylight hours, the driver of a motor vehicle must switch on:
UAРухаючись поза населеним пунктом у світлу пору доби, водій механічного транспортного засобу повинен увімкнути:
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This exam question from the Traffic Rules of Ukraine concerns active safety on rural roads during daylight hours. Outside populated areas, driving speeds are usually higher and vehicles approach each other more quickly, so it is critically important for a car to be visible from a distance. Proper use of external lighting devices reduces the risk of late detection of a vehicle against the background of the road surface, vegetation, or bright daylight, which directly affects road safety.
The question tests knowledge of the section of the traffic rules regarding warning signals and the use of external lighting devices, specifically the requirements of paragraph 9.8. This particular rule is often included in the theoretical exam: when driving a motor vehicle outside a populated area during daylight hours, daytime running lights must be used, and if the vehicle is not equipped with them, low beam headlights are the proper substitute. The logic of the rule is simple: to make the vehicle visible to other road users, not to "illuminate" the road.
Analysis of the answer options helps avoid common mistakes. Hazard warning lights are intended for emergency stops, forced stops, and other special cases, so they are not suitable for regular daytime driving outside the city. The option with high beam headlights is also incorrect: high beams can dazzle other drivers and are not intended as a substitute for daytime running lights in this case. Instead, low beam headlights are directly specified by paragraph 9.8 of the Traffic Rules of Ukraine as an alternative if daytime running lights are not available, so this approach is considered correct within the scope of this exam question.
Clause 9.8
When driving mechanical vehicles outside populated areas during daylight hours, daytime running lights must be switched on, and if they are not present in the vehicle's design, low beam headlights must be used.
Application: this clause directly establishes the obligation for the driver, when driving outside a populated area during the day, to drive with daytime running lights on, and if such lights are not structurally present — with low beam headlights on.
That is, the correct answer is "Daytime running lights, and if they are not present in the vehicle's design – low beam headlights," given that according to the definition in the Traffic Rules, clause 9.8 directly requires switching on daytime running lights (or low beam headlights if they are absent) when driving outside populated areas during daylight hours.
When driving outside a populated area during daylight hours, the vehicle must be clearly visible to other road users. On rural roads, speeds are usually higher, distances close faster, and therefore it is more important for drivers to notice a vehicle ahead or approaching in advance.
This is why paragraph 9.8 of the Traffic Rules of Ukraine establishes a requirement for all motor vehicles to use lighting during the day outside populated areas that makes the vehicle visible on the road. This reduces the risk that the car will “blend in” with the road surface, vegetation, or bright daylight, for example, when the color of the car merges with the surroundings.
Daytime running lights are primarily intended for this purpose. If the design of a particular vehicle does not provide for them (which is often the case with older models), the Traffic Rules require switching on the low beam headlights as an equivalent substitute to increase visibility. Other options are not considered a proper replacement for this requirement.
Therefore, the correct answer is "Daytime running lights, and in their absence in the vehicle's design – low beam headlights," because paragraph 9.8 of the Traffic Rules obliges drivers to mark a motor vehicle with such lights during the day outside populated areas for better visibility and safety.