Night Driving and Visibility
Singapore Traffic Police guidance on using headlights at night, managing glare, and driving when light, weather, or haze reduces visibility.
主要来源： https://www.police.gov.sg/-/media/SPF/Knowledge-Hub/Traffic/FT-ENG-2126-Revised.pdf
Reduced light, glare, rain and mist on the windscreen can make it harder to see and be seen. The Traffic Police Final Theory of Driving handbook gives drivers the following guidance for these conditions. The current Highway Code also says drivers must use headlights from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.; it gives additional advice on dipped beams, poor visibility, rain and parking on unlit roads (Singapore Statutes Online, Highway Code, paras. 95–100).
Night driving and headlight glare
Switch on headlights from 7 pm to 7 am and drive more slowly than during the day. When an oncoming vehicle’s headlights dazzle you, look to the left and use the road edge to guide you; if the light is blinding, slow down and stop by the roadside. Dip your headlights when facing oncoming traffic and when immediately behind another vehicle, to avoid dazzling other drivers (SPF, Final Theory of Driving handbook, paras. 187–190).
The handbook advises using high beam when approaching a bend with poor visibility, while warning drivers not to out-drive their normal headlight range. It estimates the average high-beam range at about 100 metres (SPF, Final Theory of Driving handbook, paras. 191–192).
When bright sunlight or reflected light from objects or standing water dazzles your vision, the handbook advises wearing sunglasses or lowering the sun visor (SPF, Final Theory of Driving handbook, para. 186).
Poor weather and visibility
In adverse weather, reduce speed to manoeuvre safely and do not drive beyond the distance you can see clearly. The handbook advises switching on headlights to see and be seen, using the demister to clear a misted windscreen, and increasing front-wiper speed in heavy rain. If visibility is too poor, move to a safe place, stop at the roadside with hazard lights on, and continue when conditions improve (SPF, Final Theory of Driving handbook, paras. 176–177).
SPF’s driver road-safety page also advises regular vehicle maintenance to reduce the chance of an accident from mechanical failure (SPF, Road Safety Tips for Drivers).
Haze
During the haze response announced on 9 October 2026, LTA used Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System (EMAS) signs and ERP 2.0 on-board units to remind motorists to drive with care and switch on headlights when visibility is low. LTA also said tunnel lighting would be adjusted where necessary to improve visibility. Follow the live messages and conditions on the route; this was guidance issued during that dated haze response (NEA, Singapore Ready To Step Up Haze Response, 9 October 2026).
Legal status and lighting requirements
SPF’s Final Theory handbook also advises drivers not to drive if any headlamp, tail-lamp or direction indicator is not working. This is handbook safety guidance (SPF, Final Theory of Driving handbook, para. 331).
The Highway Code is issued for road-user guidance under Road Traffic Act section 112. Failure to observe a Code provision does not by itself make a person liable to criminal proceedings, but it may be relied on in civil or criminal proceedings to establish or negate liability (Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 112(1), (5)).
Separate lighting rules require every vehicle on a road during the hours of darkness to carry two visible white front lamps and two visible red rear lamps. When a motor vehicle is moving during those hours, its required lamps must be lit; its headlamps must emit dipped beam on a road with lit street lamps placed no more than 150 metres apart (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Lighting) Rules, rr. 4–5).
Coverage debt
- Detailed lamp-fitting and equipment requirements vary by vehicle and are outside this article’s driving-guidance scope.