Are you allowed to read a text while stopped in heavy traffic?
- No. You may not operate a hand held device at any time while driving. This includes while stopped in heavy traffic. ✓
- Yes, but only if you know you will be stopped for several minutes.
- Yes, but you must have been stopped for at least a minute before you can use your phone.
- You may only listen to a message. This allows you to keep your eyes on traffic.
Answer: A. No. You may not operate a hand held device at any time while driving. This includes while stopped in heavy traffic.
No — reading a text while stopped in heavy traffic is not allowed; you cannot use or hold a hand-held device while you are in control of the vehicle.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says B.C. law does not let drivers use hand-held electronic devices behind the wheel. It names sending or reading emails or texts as things you may not do. The rule covers you whenever you are in control, even if traffic has you sitting still at a red light. Heavy traffic does not make reading a text allowed. So the fact that you are stopped in a long line of cars does not create an exception.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Yes, but only if you know you will be stopped for several minutes. — Knowing you will wait several minutes does not help; the handbook applies the phone rule even when traffic is bumper-to-bumper.
- C. Yes, but you must have been stopped for at least a minute before you can use your phone. — The handbook sets no one-minute waiting period, and being stopped does not make phone use legal.
- D. You may only listen to a message. This allows you to keep your eyes on traffic. — The handbook gives no permission to listen to messages, and for GLP drivers hands-free device use is limited to calling 9-1-1 in an emergency.
Remember it
If you are at the controls, the phone stays out of reach — whether the car is moving or sitting in traffic.