Q I was driving along an unlit road in the
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early morning meeting oncoming traffic with my headlights full on when, suddenly, a police car pulled out from behind an oncoming lorry. I flashed my headlights to warn him to go back, but after I had gone farther the police car turned round and stopped me and I was summoned for dazzling him with my headlights. I was fined £5 and my licence endorsed.
In the local paper this week I saw that somebody had been fined £5 for driving a car along an unlit road without his headlights on. Could you tell me whether or not it is correct to use headlights on an unlit road?
AThe short answer is this: it is illegal under The Road Vehicles' {Headlamps) Regulations 1968 to drive on an unlit road without headlights, and it's illegal under the Road Transport Lighting Act 1957 and the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1964 to dazzle oncoming traffic.
You were unfortunate in that the vehicle you dazzled was a police car !