Night Driving, Weather, Floods and Skids

Key points

1. Use your lights any time conditions keep you from seeing 1,000 feet ahead.

   Source: Handbook p. 61

   “Use your lights any time conditions keep you from seeing 1,000 feet ahead.”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 61

2. Dim high beams before you get within 500 feet of an oncoming car.

   Source: Handbook p. 60

   “dim your lights before you get within 500 feet of the oncoming car.”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 60

3. When following a car, dim your lights within 300 feet of it.

   Source: Handbook p. 60

   “If you are following a car, dim your lights when you are within 300 feet of the vehicle ahead of you.”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 60

4. At night, increase your following distance by at least 2 seconds.

   Source: Handbook p. 61

   “Increase your following distance at night by at least two seconds.”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 61

5. Your car may hydroplane at speeds over 35 mph.

   Source: Handbook p. 61

   “Your car may start to hydroplane at speeds over 35 mph.”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 61

6. Black ice is hard to see and looks more like a wet spot than ice.

   Source: Handbook p. 61

   “Black ice is difficult to see on the roadway and appears more like a wet spot than a patch of ice.”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 61

7. In a skid, slowly ease off the gas and turn your front wheels the same way the rear wheels are skidding.

   Source: Handbook p. 62

   “If you do skid, slowly take your foot off the gas pedal. • If your rear wheels skid to the right, turn your front wheels to the right. • If your rear wheels skid to the left, turn your front wheels to the left.”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 62

8. Studded snow tires may be used from October 15 through March 31.

   Source: Handbook p. 63

   “Snow tires with metal studs may be used from October 15 through March 31 of each year.”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 63

9. 6 inches of water reaches the bottom of most cars, and 2 feet of moving water can carry most vehicles away.

   Source: Handbook p. 58

   “Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger cars, causing loss of control or possible stalling. • Two feet of moving water can carry away most vehicles”
   Utah Driver Handbook, Handbook p. 58

Numbers to know

3 questions from the Utah practice test

1. 1. At about what speed does the Utah handbook say a car may begin to hydroplane on a wet road?

   1. Over 70 mph
   2. Any speed above 10 mph
   3. Over 35 mph
   4. Only above 55 mph
   Show answer

   Over 35 mph. Hydroplaning occurs when your front tires ride on water instead of the road, and the handbook says a car may start to hydroplane at speeds over 35 mph. As you go faster the problem worsens and you lose control of your steering, which is why a wet road calls for slowing down. The other numbers are either too high or too low to match the handbook. If you do skid, slowly take your foot off the gas pedal, do not slam on your brakes, and straighten out your wheels once the car regains traction.

2. 2. Why is black ice especially dangerous, according to the Utah handbook?

   1. It only forms at midday
   2. It only forms on bridges
   3. It is thicker than regular ice
   4. It is hard to see and looks more like a wet spot than ice
   Show answer

   It is hard to see and looks more like a wet spot than ice. The Utah handbook says Utah has a particular problem with black ice, which is difficult to see on the roadway and appears more like a wet spot than a patch of ice, and that many crashes occur each year from skids caused by it. Nothing in the handbook limits black ice to bridges or to midday, and it does not describe thickness as the hazard. Its advice is to keep a skid from happening by slowing to a speed at which you can control the car.

3. 3. You are following another car at night in Utah with your high beams on. When must you dim them?

   1. When you are within 300 feet of the vehicle ahead
   2. Only when the driver ahead adjusts the mirror
   3. Never, high beams are always allowed when following
   4. When you are within 1,000 feet
   Show answer

   When you are within 300 feet of the vehicle ahead. High beams fill the mirrors of the car ahead and blind its driver, so the handbook requires you to dim your lights when you are within 300 feet of the vehicle ahead of you. One thousand feet is more than the rule requires, waiting for the driver to react means you have already dazzled them, and high beams are never unrestricted when following. The oncoming rule is separate: dim before you are within 500 feet of an approaching car.

Source: the Utah Driver Handbook, Section 11: Distractions and Driving Challenges. This lesson is a plain English summary, not the law itself; where it differs, the manual and the statute govern. Last checked 2026-09-27.