Drive with low beams and windows up in heavy smoke
Alberta’s wildfire preparedness guidance tells drivers who encounter smoke on the highway to use low-beam headlights and keep windows closed. High...
Alberta’s wildfire preparedness guidance tells drivers who encounter smoke on the highway to use low-beam headlights and keep windows closed. High beams reflect off smoke particles and reduce your own visibility. Set the climate control to recirculate so you are not pulling smoke into the cabin. Slow down, keep extra distance from the vehicle ahead, and watch for stopped traffic — visibility can drop suddenly to a few car lengths. If smoke becomes too thick to see safely, pull as far off the road as you can, turn on hazard lights, and wait it out. Do not stop in a travel lane or on a narrow shoulder. Be aware that other drivers may panic and brake hard, change lanes, or stop unexpectedly. Listen to local AM/FM radio for highway and evacuation information; data signal can be unreliable in smoke-affected corridors. If you have an N95 respirator in your vehicle kit, this is when to wear it. The combination of low visibility, stressed drivers, and emergency traffic moving in both directions makes a smoke-shrouded highway one of the more dangerous places to be during fire season.
High beams in smoke reflect back into your face and make visibility worse — low beams plus recirculated cabin air is the standard rule fire-season drivers are told across the West.
Source: Alberta — Wildfire Preparedness
Last reviewed 2026-05-02.
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