Safe driving and emergencies
You are 17 and hold a provisional license. When may you use a cell phone while driving?
- Only to call for emergency assistance. Correct answer
- Any time, as long as it is in hands-free mode.
- Only to answer calls, never to send texts.
Why
Adult drivers may use a phone in hands-free mode when necessary; minors may not use one at all, hands-free or not, to answer calls or to send or respond to messages. The single exception is calling for emergency assistance. Answering a call is exactly what the law forbids a minor to do, and sending or reading texts is forbidden for every driver. The handbook's advice for everyone: let the call go to voicemail, and if you must make one, pull safely off the road first. Cell phones are the main source of distracted driving, and driver distraction tops the handbook's list of the most common causes of collisions.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Only to call for emergency assistance.
The rule behind this one
Safe driving and emergencies in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
In real life
More on safe driving and emergencies
- You have to run into a shop for a few minutes. Under what condition may you leave your five-year-old in the car?
- Your car stalls on a railroad crossing, a train is coming and the warning lights are flashing. Once you are out of the car, which way should you run?
- An oncoming vehicle's headlights are so bright that you can barely see the road. Where should you look?
- How far back from the air bag cover should you sit, and how is that distance measured?