Night, Weather, Skids, Vehicle Emergencies and Crashes: Headlight Hours and Beam Distances, Wipers On Means Lights On, Snow and Ice, Spinning Tires, Bridges, Four-Wheel Drive, Wet Roads and Hydroplaning, Anti-Lock Brakes, Steering Into a Skid, Fog, Brake Failure, Blowouts, Running Off the Pavement, Steering and Headlight Failure, a Stuck Accelerator, Blocked Vision, a Head-On Threat, Stalling on the Tracks, Big Vans, What to Do After a Crash, Steer It and Clear It and the Accident Report
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Missouri written test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: Missouri Driver Guide (Department of Revenue, revised August 2026), Chapter 9 "Safe Driving Tips for Special Driving Conditions" (pages 62–66) and the traffic-crash part of Chapter 13 (pages 81–82).
Night driving
Headlights show less of the road ahead and beside you, and oncoming glare makes seeing harder. Keep windows and headlights clean and the headlights aimed, and turn them on from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise. Use the high beams when no one is coming, but do not overdrive them: they light only about 350 feet, so drive slowly enough to stop or turn within that. Switch to low beams within 500 feet (about a block) of an oncoming vehicle and when following another vehicle within 300 feet. Slow for curves if you are at the posted maximum, steer by the edge line (or the center line if there is none), stay alert, and watch for signs, which are harder to read, and for people and vehicles stopped at the roadside. Whenever the weather makes you use your wipers, the law requires your headlights to be on.
Winter
Clear all snow and ice from windows, headlights and taillights before moving, and make sure the wipers and defroster work. Use snow-rated tires or carry chains, but even with them you cannot drive at normal speeds on snow or ice: slow down and do not use cruise control. Start slowly and smoothly; if the tires spin, rock the vehicle backward and forward to clear a path, then spread salt, sand or cat litter around the wheels, and never let anyone stand in line with a spinning wheel that can throw gravel or ice. Test the surface by braking gently, adjust your speed, and leave eight to ten seconds behind the vehicle ahead. Brake gently; slamming the brakes causes a skid. On very slippery surfaces pump the brakes gently unless the vehicle has anti-lock brakes, in which case follow the owner's manual. Bridges and overpasses freeze first, and cleared roads still hide ice patches. Do not use four-wheel drive on ice; such vehicles overturn easily, and if you hit ice in four-wheel drive take your foot off the accelerator. Ice and snow: take it slow.
Wet pavement and hydroplaning
The first rain mixes with dust and oil into a greasy film, and fallen leaves are slick too; slow down, leave more room, and do not use cruise control, which keeps powering the wheels after they lose traction. Hydroplaning, when the tires ride on water instead of pavement, can begin at any speed over 35 mph, and in a heavy storm the tires can lose all contact at 55 mph. If you feel it, ease off the accelerator and slow; do not brake, which can start a skid. Prevent it with deep-tread tires kept properly inflated, lower speeds in rain, and no cruise control.
Anti-lock brakes
Four-wheel ABS keeps the wheels from locking in an emergency stop. Under hard braking the pedal may pulse; keep your foot down with firm, continuous pressure and keep steering. Do not pump the brakes, do not forget to steer, and do not be alarmed by the noise and pulsing, which mean the system is working.
Skids
Handling a skid is the same for front- and rear-wheel drive: take your foot off the accelerator and do not brake. Gently steer in the direction the rear wheels are sliding, without braking or turning sharply, since either makes the skid worse; when the rear straightens, the vehicle tracks straight again.
Fog
Fog is very dangerous. Reduce speed, be ready to stop, and keep the headlights on low beam, because high beams show you less in fog. If it becomes too thick to see, pull off the road and stop, leaving your lights and emergency flashers on.
Vehicle emergencies
The first rule is not to panic. With power steering or a locking steering column, never turn off the ignition until you have fully stopped.
- Brake failure (pedal sinks to the floor): pump the pedal fast and hard several times; if that fails, apply the parking brake gradually, shift to a low gear, get off the road, stop, and call for help rather than driving to a garage.
- Tire blowout (a bang, then thumping, the wheel jerking): hold the wheel tightly, take your foot off the accelerator without braking, let the vehicle slow to a stop fully off the road, brake only when almost stopped, turn on the flashers, and change the tire only if you can do it safely.
- Running off the pavement: the wheels may pull right; hold the wheel tightly, come off the accelerator, use only gentle braking if needed, and steer back onto the pavement once you have slowed and the lane is free.
- Steering failure: come off the accelerator, let the vehicle slow on its own, brake only when almost stopped or when you must, and turn on the flashers.
- Headlight failure: try the dimmer or headlight switch; if that does not work, turn on the parking lights, flashers or turn signals and pull off, leaving the flashers on.
- Stuck accelerator: shift to neutral, brake, keep your eyes on the road, look for a way out, warn others with the horn and flashers, drive off the road, and turn off the ignition only once you are stopped and no longer need to steer, because the key can lock the wheel.
- Blocked vision (hood flies up, wipers fail): roll down the window and look around the obstruction, turn on the flashers, and pull off the road.
- Vehicle head-on in your lane: slow down, pull right and sound the horn; do not swing left, because the other driver may swing back.
- Stalled on railroad tracks with a train coming: unbuckle, get out and off the tracks, and run toward the train, at an angle away from the tracks, so debris from the impact flies away from you. With no train in sight, roll the windows down and listen, try to restart, and if that fails put the vehicle in neutral and push it off.
The National Transportation Safety Board has found 12- and 15-passenger vans inherently unstable when loaded as designed, carrying more than ten passengers, and recommends specific training for their drivers.
If you are in a crash
A crash is any event in which you injure yourself or someone else or damage property while driving. Leaving the scene is a crime, even when you hit a parked vehicle. Stop, and move the vehicle off the road if you can, especially if it could cause more crashes; help the injured and make them comfortable without moving them; call an ambulance and the police; use flares, reflectors or flashlights at night or in bad weather; exchange names, addresses, driver license numbers, vehicle identification and plate numbers, and insurance company and policy numbers with everyone involved; stay until an officer says you may leave; and contact your insurer as soon as possible even if the crash was not your fault.
Under the "Steer It and Clear It" (Move It) law, vehicles in a minor, non-injury crash must be moved off the road onto the shoulder or another nearby spot. Every minute a vehicle blocks one freeway lane backs traffic up four minutes, and secondary crashes cause 18 percent of Missouri's fatalities.
The accident report
You must file a Motor Vehicle Accident Report (Form 1140) with the Driver License Bureau within 30 days when the crash happened in Missouri less than a year ago, someone involved had no liability insurance, and there was property damage over $500 to any one person or an injury or death, even if it happened in a parking lot or has been settled. Below that damage threshold you may still report an uninsured driver, and the Department can then act against that driver for not keeping insurance. A crash that strikes a highway worker or emergency responder in a designated construction, work or emergency zone can cost you your driving privilege.
Practise this with Missouri Driver License questions
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Blood alcohol limits, administrative and court DWI penalties, Abuse and Lose, minor in possession, SR-22 filings, the ignition interlock, point values and suspensions, titling and odometer disclosure, registration renewal, liability minimums, insurance suspensions, safety and emissions inspections.