Skip to content

Distracted Driving

Distracted Driving falls under the broad safe-operations umbrella of 49 CFR 383.111(a)(1). Two of its rules are directly codified and carry real penalties: 49 CFR 392.80 bans texting while driving a CMV, and 49 CFR 392.82 bans hand-held phone use, both defined further at 49 CFR 390.5.

Practice Distracted Driving

5 Questions

  1. A CDL driver is stopped at a red light with the engine running. Under federal regulation, is it permissible to send a text message at that moment?
  2. A CDL driver wants to make a hand-held phone call. Under federal regulation, when is this actually permitted?
  3. While driving, a CDL driver unbuckles and leans over toward the passenger seat to grab a ringing phone, without ever holding it to their ear. Does this violate the federal hand-held phone restriction?
  4. Under federal regulation, which of the following is the one way a CDL driver may answer an incoming call on a mounted mobile phone without it counting as "hand-held" use?
  5. Eating a meal while driving and glancing at a roadside billboard are both distractions, but driver-training material sorts them into two different categories. What distinguishes the two?