Seat Belts, Child Seats, Air Bags, the Basic Speed Law, Emergencies, Distraction and Carbon Monoxide

Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the California Class C knowledge test. The facts follow the official handbook; the wording is ours.

Source: California Driver's Handbook (DL 600), California Department of Motor Vehicles, 2025 edition, section 8 "Safe Driving", second part (pp. 65–71).

Seat belts

You and your passengers must wear seat belts or you can be ticketed, and you are ticketed for any passenger under 16 who is unbelted. In a collision the vehicle stops but you keep moving at the same speed until you hit the dashboard or windshield; a side impact throws you back and forth across the seat. The lap belt and shoulder harness together raise your chance of survival in most collisions and keep you in position to control the car. Wear the shoulder harness across the shoulder and chest with little or no slack, never under the arm or behind the back; the lap belt snug and low across the hips or you can slide out. If pregnant, the lap belt goes as low as possible under the abdomen and the shoulder strap between the breasts and to the side of the bulge.

Child restraints

Children must ride in a federally approved child passenger restraint system or safety belt, by height and age:

• Under 2 years, under 40 pounds and under 3 feet 4 inches: rear-facing restraint, and never in the front seat of a vehicle with an air bag.
• Under 8 years, or under 4 feet 9 inches: a child restraint in a rear seat. A child under 8 may ride in the front in an approved restraint only if there is no rear seat, the rear seats are side-facing jump seats or rear-facing, the restraint cannot be installed properly in the back, every rear seat is already taken by children 7 or younger, or medical reasons require it.
• 8 or older, or at least 4 feet 9 inches: a properly secured federal standard safety belt.

Local law enforcement or the fire department can check the installation, and the seat must be re-checked for size as the child grows.

Air bags, children and pets

Air bags add protection beyond the belt. Sit at least 10 inches from the air bag cover, measured from the center of the steering wheel to your breastbone, as long as you can still control the car; ask the dealer or manufacturer for help if you cannot; passengers keep the same 10 inches from the passenger air bag. A child seated next to a side air bag risks serious or fatal injury. It is illegal to leave a child six or younger alone in a vehicle unless supervised by someone at least 12, and dangerous and illegal to leave children or animals in a hot car: the temperature climbs fast even with a window cracked, and heat brings dehydration, heat stroke and death.

Managing speed

The Basic Speed Law: you may never drive faster than is safe for the current conditions, whatever the posted limit. Your speed should depend on how many vehicles are on the road and how fast they are moving, the surface (smooth, rough, gravel, wet, dry, wide, narrow), bicyclists and pedestrians on or crossing the road, the weather, and congestion, which you help by not weaving between freeway lanes. Unless posted otherwise, the maximum on most California highways is 65 mph; it is 55 mph on a two-lane undivided highway and for vehicles towing trailers.

Choose between hazards: when there is danger on both sides, such as parked cars on the right and oncoming cars on the left, give the most dangerous one the most room, and take the hazards one at a time: with an oncoming car and a bicyclist ahead on the right, slow and let the car pass first, then move left to give the bicyclist at least three feet; in a steady stream of oncoming traffic, use as much of the left lane as you safely can.

Emergencies

• Tire blowout: do not panic; sudden braking or snapping your foot off the gas can cost control. Hold the wheel with both hands, keep your speed if safe, gradually release the accelerator, correct the steering to stabilize, look and steer where you want to go, then slow and pull off when safe.
• Wheels off the pavement: grip the wheel firmly, foot off the gas, brake gently, check behind, and steer back carefully; never yank the wheel, which can throw you into oncoming traffic.
• Extreme heat: watch the temperature gauge, avoid long high-speed runs, turn off the air conditioner. Extreme cold: watch the gauge (the antifreeze may be low) and use the defroster or crack a window to stop fogging.
• Disabled on the freeway: pull to the right shoulder, get out on the right side away from traffic if you must, call 511 or use a call box, get back in from the right side, and stay inside belted until help comes, using the flashers as you judge best. Get out and stay away instead when the shoulder is too narrow, there is a guardrail, or there is somewhere safe well clear of the lanes.
• CHP Freeway Service Patrol: free help at commute times in some areas: a gallon of gas, a jump start, a radiator refill and taped hoses, a flat tire change, and reporting a collision; if the car will not start they tow it free to a CHP-approved location. They do not tow to a private shop or home, recommend tow or repair companies, tow motorcycles, or help crashed vehicles unless CHP directs. Call 511.
• Stalled on railroad tracks: if a train is coming and the lights are flashing, get out at once and run diagonally away from the tracks toward the direction the train is coming from, then call 911. If no train is in sight and no lights flash, get out, call the number on the crossing post or control box with the crossing number, say a vehicle is on the tracks, then call 911.

Distraction, phones and technology

Common distractions: looking at a phone, navigation, children or pets; changing music or volume; makeup or shaving. Cell phones are the main source of distracted driving, and holding one while driving is illegal. Adults may use hands-free mode only when necessary: let calls go to voicemail, pull off the road to call back, never send or read texts or email, mount the phone on the windshield, dashboard or center console without blocking the view, and use only a single swipe or tap. Minors may not use a cell phone or wireless device at all while driving, except to call for emergency help. Self-driving and driver-assistance systems may react differently from a human driver; know your vehicle's.

Carbon monoxide

Every gas engine makes carbon monoxide, a deadly odorless gas from the exhaust. Never start the car in a closed garage. Tiredness, yawning, dizziness, nausea, headache and ringing ears are symptoms; if you feel them, have the exhaust system checked.

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