Which driver is exempt from New York's ban on speaking into a hand-held mobile telephone while driving?
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A.
A commuter running late for a scheduled work meeting.
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B.
Any driver over the age of 21.
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C.
A parent making a routine check-in with a child at home.
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D.
A police officer using the phone in the performance of official duties. Correct
The answer is "A police officer using the phone in the performance of official duties."
The manual lists exemptions for emergency calls and for police, other law enforcement officers, and fire department personnel and authorized emergency-vehicle operators in the performance of official duties. Choice A is the trap for drivers who read 'emergency' loosely enough to cover any high-pressure personal moment, but the exception applies to actual emergencies, not to running late for work.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. A commuter running late for a scheduled work meeting.
Being late is not the emergency the exception was written for; the carve-out covers actual emergencies and named officials on duty. This answer reads 'emergency situations' loosely enough to cover any high-pressure personal moment.
B. Any driver over the age of 21.
The hand-held ban applies to all drivers; New York gives no adult-only exemption in the manual. This answer confuses the phone rule with age-tied laws elsewhere in traffic code that do carry a 21-year floor.
C. A parent making a routine check-in with a child at home.
Routine personal calls to family are not among the manual's listed exemptions, which cover only emergency and named-official use. This answer treats family communication as an implied exception because personal urgency feels like an emergency.
This question tests your knowledge of Distracted Driving in New York. Source: New York State Driver's Manual, "Using a Cellular or Mobile Telephone," p.52..
Related New York questions
- How many license points does a New York driver receive for improper cell phone use (talking on a hand-held mobile phone while driving)? →
- Under New York's hand-held mobile phone ban, and outside the emergency and official-duty exemptions, a driver may pick up the phone for which purpose? →
- According to the New York manual, what defines a hands-free mobile telephone? →
- Under New York law, when may a driver use a hands-free mobile telephone? →
- What is the maximum fine for a first-offense texting-while-driving conviction in New York? →
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