4.3 Safety Protocols, Risk Management & the Wireless Device Prohibition

4.3 Safety Protocols, Risk Management & the Wireless Device Prohibition

[!CAUTION] The instructor rule is stricter than the driver rule. Washington's general E-DUI statute, RCW 46.61.672, restricts a driver's handheld use of a personal electronic device and permits hands-free operation. WAC 308-108-165(1) removes that permission for instructors: it prohibits personal electronic devices "hands-free or otherwise" that distract from or interfere with the instruction task. A Bluetooth call an ordinary driver may lawfully take is prohibited for an instructor conducting a lesson.

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WAC 308-108-165 in full

(1) Driving school instructors must not use personal electronic devices, hands-free or otherwise, that distract from or interfere with the behind the wheel or classroom instruction task. This includes the use of any communications devices that result in verbal or written text responses while conducting instruction. While supervising the operation of a vehicle, instructors are additionally prohibited from sending or receiving messages with these devices. Ring volumes for these devices, or any phone in proximity, are to be silenced so as not to interfere in any way with the student learning or interacting with the instructor.

(2) The section does not apply to voice-activated GPS devices or classroom devices being used as part of an approved curriculum. It also does not preclude the use of devices to report illegal activity, summon medical or other emergency help, or prevent injury to a person or property, as permitted under RCW 46.61.672.

(3) An unreasonable risk associated with a failure to obey this section is a violation of RCW 18.235.130(4).

(4) The section does not prohibit the use of wireless communication devices during instruction if the use is to access a virtual classroom or in the case of an emergency.

Four details that decide examination items

1. "Or any phone in proximity." The silencing duty is not limited to the instructor's own phone. A student's phone ringing in the cup holder interferes with instruction, so the rule reaches it.
2. Classroom as well as car. Subsection (1) names "the behind the wheel or classroom instruction task." This is not solely an in-vehicle rule.
3. The exceptions are narrow and functional. Voice-activated GPS is permitted. Classroom devices used as part of an approved curriculum are permitted. Emergency use tracks the RCW 46.61.672 emergency exception. Accessing a virtual classroom is permitted. Personal convenience is not on the list.
4. The consequence is professional, not just a citation. Subsection (3) routes an unreasonable risk into RCW 18.235.130(4) - unprofessional conduct under the Uniform Regulation of Business and Professions Act - which feeds straight into the RCW 46.82.350 disciplinary framework and the RCW 18.235.110 sanction menu.

The parallel student rule is worth teaching alongside it. RCW 46.20.055(3)(b) allows a permit holder to drive only if "the person is not using a wireless communications device, unless the person is using the device to report illegal activity, summon medical or other emergency help, or prevent injury to a person or property," and RCW 46.20.075(4) imposes the same absolute prohibition on an intermediate licensee. Permit holder, intermediate licensee and instructor are all held to a stricter standard than the general adult driver.

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Instructor Standard 1.5: Safety Protocols

The standard states three expectations:

1. Adhere to safety procedures in both the classroom and vehicle, including emergency protocols.
2. Recognise potential hazards and take proactive measures to prevent collisions.
3. Create and implement a thorough risk management plan.

Expectation 3 is a deliverable, not an attitude. A written risk management plan for a driving school should address the following, with the corresponding rules as anchors.

Classroom physical safety

Instructor Standard 3.1 (Classroom Management) is usually read as a behaviour standard, but its first and third items are safety items: "manage the physical classroom environment (lighting, temperature, restrooms, fire exits, etc.)" and "communicate emergency procedures clearly." A driver education class often runs in a leased room the instructor did not choose. The professional practice is to locate the exits and the extinguisher before the first session and to brief students in the first ten minutes, exactly as an in-car lesson begins with a pre-drive brief.

Handling a collision during a lesson

A compact protocol, sequenced so that the legal steps do not precede the safety steps:

1. Stop and secure. Bring the vehicle to a controlled stop clear of traffic where possible, engage the parking brake, hazard lights on.
2. Check for injury, starting with the student. Summon medical help - this is an express exception in WAC 308-108-165(2).
3. Warn traffic using the strobe, triangle or two 18-inch cones the vehicle is required to carry.
4. Contact the school and the guardian. The student is a minor in your care.
5. Exchange and document as any driver must, and make the report required by RCW 46.52.030 where the threshold is met.
6. School reports to DOL within 24 hours under WAC 308-108-140(1)(b).
7. Do not return the vehicle to service until the owner forwards a vehicle inspection report to the department - WAC 308-108-140(1)(b).
8. Debrief the student, in the presence of a guardian where appropriate. A collision during a lesson is a significant event for a novice, and Standard 3.6.9 expects the instructor to have "empathetic communication techniques for handling difficult conversations."
9. File the collision or injury report as a school record retained three years - WAC 308-108-120(5)(c).

[!WARNING] Exam traps in this section

• "Hands-free or otherwise" - the instructor rule is stricter than the general driver rule.
• Ring volumes must be silenced on any phone in proximity, not just the instructor's own.
• The rule covers classroom instruction too.
• Voice-activated GPS, approved-curriculum classroom devices, emergencies and virtual-classroom access are the only exceptions.
• Unreasonable risk becomes unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.235.130(4).