Incredible? I'd say so. Someone at the DMV is incompetent. Here's some more. Some of it was even reasonable. Other stuff, not so much. Check it out.

• Yellow light
  85% of drivers on American roads do not know the proper course of action to take when faced with a steady yellow traffic light. Really?

• Smoking in a vehicle
  As of 2008, Health and Safety Code 118947 makes it an infraction for any person to smoke a cigarette, pipe, or cigar in a motor vehicle when a minor is present in the vehicle. The law applies whether the vehicle is at rest or in motion and is punishable by a fine not exceeding $100. Interesting. Did you know this?

• Car insurance
  A deposit may be posted in lieu of obtaining liability insurance. All that's needed is a surety bond for $35,000 obtained from a company licensed to do business in California. Also interesting.

• Cell phone use while driving
  A University of Utah report shows that talking or texting while behind the wheel alters a driver's reaction time in the same way as a DUI-worthy blood alcohol level of 0.08%. Hands-free (bluetooth) devices have been shown to have the same effect on the brain as talking, texting, or drinking. It's not the act of dialing a number or holding a phone to your ear that causes the distraction in the first place. It's the fact that your mind's attention is diverted from watching the road. Any kind of cell phone use while driving, whether hands-free or hand-held, reduces the brain activity used for driving by 37%. I am not at all surprised by this. Many states have passed such laws. Distracted driving needs to stop.

• Bicycles
  Bicycles play an increasingly important role in our nation's overall transportation system. Many people think bicycles do not belong on the streets. However, they have as much right to be on the road or highway as do motor vehicles. The law requires that a person under the age of 18 shall not operate or be a passenger on a bicycle without wearing a properly fitting and fastened helmet. Those of us over 50 remember when it was illegal to ride a bicycle on the street. We had to get off and walk the bicycle across a crosswalk. Have things changed that much?

• Emergency (hazard) flashers
  If you have an emergency and must leave your vehicle unattended on a freeway, turn off the engine, lock the ignition, remove the key, firmly set the brakes, and turn on your emergency flashers. Good advice. Problem is, few motorcycles are equipped with hazard flashers and even those that are, perversely, can't operate them without the keyswitch on. Which is patently ridiculous and out of the question.

• The traditional steering hold no longer recommended
  There are two methods for holding a steering wheel that are generally accepted as the safest ways, as we stated at the beginning of this course. The first is to hold the wheel with your hands in the positions of 8 o'clock and 4 o'clock. Holding your steering wheel in this manner is widely regarded as the most useful method for maintaing control of your vehicle in the event of an emergency situation on the road. The second method is to hold your hands at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock on the wheel. This method is steadily gaining popularity and support as a more comfortable way of holding your steering wheel, while still affording the same control that the first technique offers. I was surprised at this. High school Driver's Ed did a good job pounding into our heads that the 10 and 2 positions were the only correct hold. And logic tells us that any hold that is below the vertical centerline of the wheel is obviously not as safe in an emergency situation. The brain won't have time to correct for the opposite direction the wheel will turn. Again, insensable, illogical, nonsensical.