Coasting in neutral downhill is
- illegal and unsafe ✓
- safe for experienced drivers
- a good way to save gas
- hard on the gears
Answer: A. illegal and unsafe
Coasting downhill in neutral is illegal and unsafe.
Why this is the answer
The handbook states plainly that coasting downhill in neutral, or with the clutch in, is illegal. It also gives the reason: you need to be in gear so you can control the vehicle safely. The answer choice that matches this is the one calling it illegal and unsafe, since the handbook's rule and its safety reason line up with both words.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. safe for experienced drivers — Experience does not change the rule; the handbook makes coasting in neutral illegal for any driver, not just new ones.
- C. a good way to save gas — The handbook never presents coasting in neutral as a fuel-saving method, and it forbids the practice outright.
- D. hard on the gears — The handbook's concern is that you are out of gear and lose safe control of the vehicle, not damage to the gears.
Remember it
Downhill, keep it in gear: neutral means you are not in control, and in British Columbia that is against the law.
Official handbook: ICBC Learn to Drive Smart, Chapter 5: see-think-do – Do, p. 71