Driver's License Test Prep
California Practice Safety Belts & Restraints

Where does the California manual prohibit a rear-facing child passenger restraint system?

  1. A.
    In any seat of a truck or SUV.
  2. B.
    In the rear seat of a sedan without side airbags.
  3. C.
    In the front seat of any airbag-equipped vehicle. Correct
The Why

The answer is "In the front seat of any airbag-equipped vehicle."

A rear-facing child restraint is barred from the front seat of any airbag-equipped vehicle because a deploying front airbag strikes the seat back where the child's head rests. Choice B reads the rule inside out, treating a side-airbag vehicle as the danger, which is closer to the manual's separate warning about children beside side airbags.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. In any seat of a truck or SUV.

The manual does not exempt or bar trucks or SUVs; the rule turns on the airbag, not the body style. This answer assumes bigger vehicles carry their own restraint exception, an idea the manual never prints.

B. In the rear seat of a sedan without side airbags.

The rear seat is where the manual sends the rear-facing restraint; the rule points at the front seat. This answer flips the rule so a side-airbag warning about the rear seat overrides the front-seat prohibition.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Safety Belts & Restraints in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "Child Restraint System and Safety Seats," p.66..

More from this topic

Related California questions

More than a book

You just took one California question apart. The book does it for the whole test.

The California book unlocks a free companion: an adaptive study plan, progress synced across your devices, a denser laminate cheat sheet, and a test-day walkthrough. Verify your copy once, usually in seconds; there's nothing extra to buy.

Get the book on Amazon

$18.99 paperback, free companion included.

Free study plan

Your free California study plan

A short run of study emails for the California DMV test: what to drill, the rules people trip on, and a final pre-test checklist. The printable cheat sheet is free to grab either way.

One email a few times a month. No spam, unsubscribe anytime. Privacy.