Outside a highway work zone, a disabled car is stopped with its hazard flashers on. You approach on a four-lane highway with two lanes in your direction, and a lane change away is reasonable and safe. What does Virginia require?
Correct answer: Proceed cautiously and move into the nonadjacent lane
Section 46.2-861.1(B) covers stationary vehicles displaying hazard flashers, not only emergency vehicles. On the described highway, drivers must cautiously move away when reasonable and safe. If changing lanes is unreasonable or unsafe, the statute instead requires due caution and a safe speed; subsection D excludes highway work zones from this section.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-861.1, subsections B and D; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 16, physical PDF p. 18: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=18. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
An ordinary private motorist is following a fire engine responding to a fire alarm. The motorist is not on official business. How close may that motorist follow under Virginia law?
Correct answer: No closer than 500 feet
Section 46.2-921 prohibits a vehicle not on official business from following responding fire apparatus or an emergency medical services vehicle closer than 500 feet. It also separately restricts parking near fire apparatus stopped at a fire alarm.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-921, entire section, following clause; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 16, physical PDF p. 18: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=18. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
A responding emergency vehicle approaches from behind on your roadway with its required flashing lights and audible signal. No officer gives a different direction. As traffic conditions permit, where does Virginia law require you to stop?
Correct answer: At the nearest roadway edge, clear of an intersection
Section 46.2-829 requires moving to the nearest roadway edge as quickly as traffic and highway conditions permit, clear of any intersection, and remaining stopped until the emergency vehicle passes unless a law-enforcement officer directs otherwise. The statutory wording is 'nearest edge,' not an unconditional right-edge rule.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-829, first paragraph; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 16, physical PDF p. 18: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=18. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
A 30-year-old rides in the rear seat of an ordinary private car equipped with seat belts on a public highway. No statutory exemption applies. Does Virginia require that passenger to wear the belt while the car moves?
Correct answer: Yes; the adult-seat requirement is not limited to front seats
Current section 46.2-1094(A) applies to the driver and any other person at least 18 occupying a seat in a vehicle equipped or required to be equipped with a safety-belt system. It is not limited to front seats. The question excludes the section's medical and occupational or vehicle-category exemptions.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-1094, subsections A and B; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 26, physical PDF p. 28: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=28. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
An adult drives a privately owned 2024 sedan on a Virginia highway with a 17-year-old passenger. No exemption applies, and the passenger is not in a child-restraint category. Who must ensure the teen is properly belted?
Correct answer: The driver transporting the teen
Section 46.2-1095(B) places the duty on the person transporting someone under 18 to ensure an appropriate safety belt is provided and properly used in the specified post-January-1-1968 vehicles. The scenario excludes the exemptions in subsection E and section 46.2-1096.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-1095, subsections B and E; section 46.2-1096; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 26, physical PDF p. 28: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=28. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
A driver takes a seven-year-old in a privately owned 2024 car on a Virginia highway. No medical or vehicle-category exemption applies. What restraint does the law require?
Correct answer: A properly used child restraint meeting federal standards
Section 46.2-1095(A) puts this seven-year-old within its child-restraint age coverage in the specified post-January-1-1968 vehicles. A belt alone is not an age-based substitute. Exemptions and medical documentation are addressed separately in subsection E and section 46.2-1096.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-1095, subsections A and E; section 46.2-1096; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 27, physical PDF p. 29: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=29. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
A private 2024 vehicle has no back seat. An appropriate child restraint is to be installed in the front passenger seat, consistent with its instructions. What airbag condition must be met under Virginia's placement rule?
Correct answer: No passenger-side airbag, or that airbag deactivated
Section 46.2-1095(A) places child restraints in the back seat. When the vehicle has no back seat, it allows the front passenger seat only if there is no passenger-side airbag or that airbag has been deactivated. This legal exception does not replace restraint and vehicle instructions.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-1095, subsection A, final two sentences; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 27, physical PDF p. 29: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=29. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
An ordinary driver holds a smartphone to make a nonemergency voice call while the car is moving on a Virginia highway. The driver is not texting. How does section 46.2-818.2 apply?
Correct answer: Holding the device is prohibited even without texting
Section 46.2-818.2(A) prohibits holding a handheld personal communications device while driving a moving motor vehicle on Virginia highways. It is not merely a texting ban. The nonemergency private-driving scenario excludes the listed exceptions.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-818.2, subsections A and B; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 24, physical PDF p. 26: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=26. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
Which use is expressly excepted from Virginia's handheld-device prohibition by section 46.2-818.2?
Correct answer: Using a handheld device to report an emergency
Section 46.2-818.2(B)(3) expressly excepts use to report an emergency. That narrow exception does not cover an ordinary scheduling, navigation or work call and does not authorize unsafe driving. Other listed exceptions are separate.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-818.2, subsection B(3); complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 24, physical PDF p. 26: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=26. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
A driver strikes an occupied parked car and causes only a small scratch. Nobody is injured. What does Virginia's attended-property crash rule require?
Correct answer: Stop without obstructing traffic and provide the required identifying information
Section 46.2-894 requires stopping and reporting the driver's name, address, driver's-license number and vehicle-registration number in an attended-property-damage accident. The duty is not conditioned on reaching a minimum repair cost; the section's dollar threshold concerns offense grading. The scenario does not address an injury preventing compliance.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-894, first through third paragraphs; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 25, physical PDF p. 27: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=27. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
After damaging an unattended parked car without injuring anyone, a driver reasonably tries but cannot find its owner. Besides leaving the required identification and contact information conspicuously, what must the driver do?
Correct answer: Report the accident in writing to state or local police within 24 hours
Section 46.2-896 requires a written report to State Police or the local law-enforcement agency within 24 hours when the owner or custodian cannot be found. The note and report must include section 46.2-894's identifying information; the report also states the date, time, place and description of damage.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-896, first paragraph; section 46.2-894; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 25, physical PDF p. 27: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=27. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
After a Virginia crash with no injuries or deaths, the car is movable and its driver can safely move it out of the roadway. Must the driver preserve its exact lane position until police arrive?
Correct answer: No; the driver must move it to avoid obstructing traffic
Section 46.2-888(B) requires moving a movable vehicle from the roadway when the driver can safely do so and no injury or death resulted. This does not erase reporting or assistance duties. The question does not rely on subsection C's contingent I-66 provision.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-888, subsections A and B; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 25, physical PDF p. 27: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=27. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
On an ordinary public street within a Virginia town, a driver wants to reverse direction halfway along a block rather than at an intersection. What location rule applies?
Correct answer: The U-turn must be made at an intersection, if otherwise lawful
Section 46.2-845 prohibits turning to proceed in the opposite direction within cities, towns or county business districts except at an intersection. The intersection exception is not blanket permission: signs, visibility and other safety rules still apply.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-845, first paragraph; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 18, physical PDF p. 20: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=20. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
On a rural highway, a driver proposes a U-turn near a crest where an approaching driver cannot see the turning vehicle within 500 feet. What does Virginia law require?
Correct answer: Do not make the U-turn there
Section 46.2-845 separately prohibits reversing direction on a curve or near a grade crest where the vehicle cannot be seen by a driver approaching from any direction within 500 feet. This visibility restriction is not limited to urban areas.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-845, second paragraph; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 18, physical PDF p. 20: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=20. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
A car's upcoming turn may affect another vehicle. Under Virginia law, what minimum continuous signal distances apply on roads whose lawful speeds are 45 mph and 35 mph, respectively?
Correct answer: 100 feet at 45 mph; 50 feet at 35 mph
Sections 46.2-848 and 46.2-849(B) require the applicable signal when another vehicle may be affected. The minimum is 100 continuous feet where the lawful speed is more than 35 mph, and 50 feet in all other cases. The dividing point is the road's lawful speed, not the car's momentary speed.
Source: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-849, subsection B; section 46.2-848; complete current official section body and relevant exceptions read September 13, 2026. Supporting handbook context: Virginia Driver's Manual, DMV 39 (April 27, 2026), printed p. 18, physical PDF p. 20: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf#page=20. Current statute controls where the handbook summary differs. Retained primary-source-bodies.md in virginia-rules-source-assets-2026-09-13. ↗
