Driver's License Test Prep
Pennsylvania Practice Distracted Driving

Which of the following does Pennsylvania's texting ban specifically NOT include?

  1. A.
    Sending a text message while driving in moving traffic
  2. B.
    Reading email on a smart phone
  3. C.
    Instant messaging from a smart phone
  4. D.
    A GPS device used for navigation Correct
The Why

The answer is "A GPS device used for navigation"

The PA Driver Manual names three carve-outs from the texting ban: a GPS device, a system or device physically or electronically integrated into the vehicle, and a communications device affixed to a mass transit vehicle, bus, or school bus. A standalone GPS unit used for navigation sits on that short exclusion list. Choice C is aimed at drivers who read "texting ban" as SMS-only and treat chat-app messages as a workaround the statute did not name, missing that the IWCD definition sweeps in instant messages and email alongside text messages.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. Sending a text message while driving in moving traffic

Composing and sending a text message on a phone while operating a vehicle is the core conduct the anti-texting law prohibits, which puts this act inside the ban rather than on the carve-out list. This answer confuses the 'NOT include' wording and picks the act the law most clearly prohibits instead of one it excludes from that prohibition.

B. Reading email on a smart phone

Email is named in the manual's definition of a text-based communication composed or received on an IWCD, so reading email on a smart phone falls inside the ban. This answer reads 'texting ban' as SMS-only and treats email as a separate category of message the statute did not reach.

C. Instant messaging from a smart phone

The manual lists instant messages alongside text messages and email in the definition of text-based communication, so instant messaging from a smart phone falls inside the ban. This answer reads 'texting ban' narrowly as SMS and treats chat-app messages as a workaround the statute does not name.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Distracted Driving in Pennsylvania. Source: Pennsylvania Driver Manual, "Anti-Texting Law," p.93..

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