Final answer:
When your car breaks down on the highway at night, raising the hood and switching on the parking lights are advisable actions for safety. Headlights should provide visibility without looking directly into them to avoid temporary blindness. In emergencies, like a woman in labor, going through a red light cautiously when safe might be necessary.
Step-by-step explanation:
If your car breaks down on the highway at night, it is advisable to do both actions mentioned: raise the hood and tie a white handkerchief to the left door handle as an international sign of distress, and also to switch on the parking lights of your car to increase its visibility. Concurrently, you may also want to turn on your hazard lights if your vehicle is equipped with them to alert other drivers of your presence and to enhance safety.
The headlights of a car, when functioning properly, should illuminate the road ahead and make the vehicle visible to others. Not looking directly into bright lights such as car headlights is a safety recommendation because the intense light can temporarily blind individuals, which could be dangerous, especially on roads where situational awareness is crucial.
In emergencies, such as when a pregnant woman in the car is about to give birth, it may be necessary to evaluate the risks and benefits of adhering strictly to traffic laws. While it is generally required to stop at a red traffic light, if there is no other traffic around at 4 am and an emergency is at hand, cautiously proceeding through the light to reach the hospital may indeed be the more responsible and ethical choice in such a unique scenario.