Help! Headlight issues

I have a '97 Cutlass Supreme SL. I have been noticing that the headlights (which are controlled automatically with a light sensor) have not been coming on by themselves at sundown for the last few days. I have had to turn them on manually w/ the switch. Driving home last night, I tried to turn on the high beams, and all the lights in the car went dark....everything came back on when I turned the high beams off...thank goodness. Any ideas????? My main concern is how serious is the problem? If I don't need to drive at night, is the car safe enough to go for awhile without fixing? money money money.....

Check to make sure that the turn signals and break lights are working without the headlights on. If they work you should be okay for day driving, so people know what your driving intentions are. On most vehicals the lights are seperate from the other vehical operations. I had a pickup that the lights shut off if I turned on the brights, and I drove it alot with it like that, but it didn't have a computer in it. As soon as you get some money you should get it looked at, but until then I think you should be fine, just check the signal and break lights occasionally.