Distracted and drowsy driving — Virginia Permit Test

Distracted and drowsy driving on the Virginia permit test — 9 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Virginia law prohibits drivers from holding a cell phone or any other wireless communications device while driving, except in an emergency or when the vehicle is lawfully parked or stopped.

A phone in the hand takes a hand off the wheel and the eyes off the road at the same moment, which is why the law names holding it.

A phone may be used for navigation as long as the driver is not entering information into it or holding it while driving.

A map on a mounted screen asks for a glance, and typing an address asks for the several seconds a crash needs.

Driver distraction accounts for roughly 17 percent of all traffic crashes in Virginia each year.

The seconds spent looking at a screen are the seconds a car needs to reach the back of a stopped line of traffic.

Set or adjust the controls on your vehicle and other devices before you begin driving. If you must do something distracting, pull over and stop somewhere safe first.

A task done at the curb costs a minute, and the same task at 55 miles per hour costs the length of a football field unwatched.

Constant yawning, heavy eyelids, not remembering the last few miles, missing signs or exits, drifting out of your lane and hitting rumble strips are all signs of drowsy driving.

By the time you notice these, you have already been asleep for moments at a time without knowing it.

To avoid drowsy driving, limit long distance trips and stop to rest at least every two hours. As little as 10 to 20 minutes of sleep can make a real difference.

Tiredness builds slowly enough that a driver stops noticing it, so the break has to be set by the clock rather than by how you feel.

Rolling down a window, chewing gum, turning up the radio and drinking caffeine do not prevent drowsy driving and are not reliable ways to stay awake.

These tricks make a tired driver feel more awake without being more awake, which is worse than knowing you are tired.

Drowsy driving is a form of impaired driving, and avoiding the hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is one way to reduce the risk.

The body wants to sleep in those hours whatever the driver has planned, so the safest answer is not to be driving in them.

A driver convicted of using a handheld communications device in a highway work zone will be fined $250.

A phone in the hand costs the seconds a worker needs you to have, so the zone carries its own fine on top of the general ban.

On the test

When may a driver hold a cell phone in Virginia?

In an emergency, or when parked or stopped. A phone in the hand takes a hand off the wheel and the eyes off the road at the same moment, which is why the law names holding it.

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Virginia Driver’s Manual, published by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-02.