Distracted driving — Virginia Permit Test
Distracted driving on the Virginia permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Virginia law bans holding a cell phone or any other wireless device while driving, except in an emergency or when the vehicle is lawfully parked or stopped.
A phone in your hand takes your eyes, your hand and your attention all at once.
Virginia law prohibits drivers from holding cell phones or any other wireless communication devices while driving except in a driver emergency or the vehicle is lawfully parked or stopped.
A phone may be used for navigation as long as the driver is not entering information or holding it while driving.
Typing an address is the part that takes your eyes off the road for seconds at a time.
A mobile phone or other telecommunications device may be used for navigation, as long as the driver is not entering information or holding it while driving.
Driver distraction accounts for roughly 17 percent of all traffic crashes in Virginia each year.
Nearly one crash in six begins with a driver looking at something that is not the road.
Annually, driver distraction accounts for roughly 17 percent of all traffic crashes in Virginia.
Set the controls on your vehicle and any other devices as soon as you get in, before you begin driving.
Doing it while moving is exactly the thing the law is trying to stop.
Set or adjust the controls on the vehicle and other devices as soon as you get in the car and before you begin driving.
On the test
When may you hold a cell phone while driving in Virginia?
In an emergency, or when lawfully parked or stopped. A phone in your hand takes your eyes, your hand and your attention all at once. Virginia Driver's Manual, p.24: “Virginia law prohibits drivers from holding cell phones or any other wireless communication devices while driving except in a driver emergency or the vehicle is lawfully parked or stopped.”
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 2026-09-06.