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

According to the Texas manual's glossary, which device is specifically named as an example of a passive restraint?

  1. A.
    A lap belt tightened by the passenger.
  2. B.
    An automatic safety belt. Correct
  3. C.
    A head restraint on the seat back.
  4. D.
    An ignition interlock device.
The Why

The answer is "An automatic safety belt."

The glossary names an airbag and an automatic safety belt as examples of a passive restraint device, one that works without the passenger or driver initiating it. The shared word 'restraint' steers readers to C, though the head-restraint entry describes whiplash reduction rather than self-activation.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. A lap belt tightened by the passenger.

A belt the passenger tightens doesn't qualify as passive; the passive-restraint definition turns on the device engaging without any action from the occupant. This answer assumes any safety belt counts because it holds you in the seat, skipping the definition's test of whether the device engages by itself rather than what the device is called.

C. A head restraint on the seat back.

Head restraints have their own glossary entry, describing padded devices on the backs of front seats that reduce whiplash. The passive-restraint entry names airbag and automatic safety belt as its examples, not head restraints. This answer reasons by the shared word 'restraint' and the general idea that head restraints protect without driver action, rather than by which device the glossary actually names in its passive-restraint entry.

D. An ignition interlock device.

An ignition interlock is a court-ordered dashboard breath-test mechanism the driver blows into to start the car. It doesn't hold an occupant during a collision, so it isn't a restraint at all. This answer groups the interlock with restraints because both entries share the word 'device,' missing that the interlock entry describes a court-ordered breath test the driver must actively perform.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Safety Belts & Restraints in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Appendix A: Glossary of Terms," p.74..

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