General Knowledge · Distracted Driving
A CDL driver wants to make a hand-held phone call. Under federal regulation, when is this actually permitted?
1.Only after moving off the highway and stopping somewhere it can safely remain, or to contact law enforcement or emergency servicesCorrect answer
2.At any time at all, as long as the individual phone call itself happens to last less than a full minute total each way today without exception
3.Only on roads where the posted legal speed limit stays under 35 mph for the entire stretch of roadway actually being driven right now
4.Only if the vehicle happens to be equipped with a front passenger seat, regardless of whether that particular seat is actually occupied by anyone
Explanation
A driver may use a hand-held mobile telephone only once the vehicle has been moved off the highway and brought to a safe stop, since 49 CFR 392.82(a)(1) bans hand-held phone use "while driving a CMV" and 392.82(b) defines "driving" to exclude only a vehicle safely stopped off the highway; the only other permitted use is contacting law enforcement or emergency services under 392.82(c). The other options fail for a shared reason: each invents a condition, a time limit, a speed threshold, or a seating requirement, that does not appear anywhere in the actual regulation.
Source: 49 CFR 392.82(a)(1) and (b)
Related Distracted Driving questions
- 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?
- 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?
- 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?
- 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?