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SAAQ Class 5 overview

SAAQ Class 5: Vision, fatigue, distraction and attitude

How vision, physical problems, fatigue and emotions affect driving, the ban on hand-held electronic devices and its penalties, observation, and keeping your judgment in traffic.

  • 14 questions
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Vision, fatigue, distraction and attitude · Question 1Score 0/0

On a long trip you keep yawning and your eyes are itchy. Once drowsiness has set in like this, what is the only real way to recover?

Study reference: SAAQ Driver's Handbook (2nd edition), Ch. 1 The Driver — Factors that influence driving, pp. 58–72

All 14 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

  1. On a long trip you keep yawning and your eyes are itchy. Once drowsiness has set in like this, what is the only real way to recover?

    1. Drink a strong coffee
    2. Turn up the radio
    3. Open the windows wide
    4. Get some sleep

  2. You pull over safely and legally at the side of a quiet street, leave the engine running, and pick up your phone to make a call. Is this permitted?

    1. No, unless your hazard lights are on
    2. No, only in a designated parking lot
    3. Yes, you are no longer driving
    4. No, not while the engine is running

  3. You are on a highway and absolutely must make a phone call. Where should you stop to make it?

    1. On the highway's right shoulder
    2. On the next exit ramp
    3. At the end of an access ramp
    4. At a service area off the highway

  4. Your Québec driver's licence shows Condition A. What does this condition require of you?

    1. Driving only an automatic vehicle
    2. Keeping a zero blood alcohol level
    3. Driving only during daylight hours
    4. Wearing your glasses or contact lenses

  5. A driver is caught using a hand-held phone for the first time. What penalty applies?

    1. 4 demerit points and a $200 to $300 fine
    2. 5 demerit points and a $100 to $200 fine
    3. 3 demerit points and a $100 to $200 fine
    4. 5 demerit points and a $300 to $600 fine

  6. While driving, you hold your cell phone in your hand, but it is switched off. How does the law treat this?

    1. It is allowed if you are not looking at it
    2. It is allowed because the phone is off
    3. It is allowed if it is in airplane mode
    4. You are presumed to be using it

  7. Roughly how much of the information you need to drive safely do you gather with your eyes?

    1. About 70%
    2. About 75%
    3. About 50%
    4. About 90%

  8. You merge onto the highway and accelerate to cruising speed. What happens to your field of vision?

    1. It widens only to the sides
    2. It becomes narrower
    3. It stays exactly the same
    4. It becomes wider

  9. You are leaving work after sunset and still have your sunglasses on. What should you do?

    1. Take them off before driving
    2. Keep them on if they are polarized
    3. Keep them on only on lit streets
    4. Keep them on to cut headlight glare

  10. You had a few drinks at a party. Which of these actually lowers the amount of alcohol in your body?

    1. Waiting for time to pass
    2. Going for a brisk walk
    3. Eating a large meal
    4. Taking a cold shower

  11. A driver is convicted of using a hand-held device for the third time within two years (a second repeat offence). How long is the licence suspended?

    1. 3 days
    2. 7 days
    3. 30 days
    4. 90 days

  12. You are waiting at a red light and pick up your phone to read a text. Is this allowed?

    1. Yes, if your foot stays on the brake
    2. Yes, because the vehicle is not moving
    3. No, you are still considered to be driving
    4. Yes, if you put it down before green

  13. Which of these may a driver legally use while driving?

    1. A tablet resting in the driver's hand
    2. A portable satellite radio held in hand
    3. A dash-mounted CB radio with a hand microphone
    4. An MP3 player held to change songs

  14. Eighteen months after a first hand-held phone ticket, a driver is caught again. What applies for this first repeat offence?

    1. At least $1,000 and a 30-day suspension
    2. At least $600 and a 7-day suspension
    3. At least $600 and a 3-day suspension
    4. At least $300 and a 3-day suspension

Vision, fatigue, distraction and attitude: key rules to remember

Our summary of what the official handbook says on this topic, in our own words. Read it before or after the practice questions above, then check the original chapter. Read the official chapter ↗

Factors that influence driving

  • Driving means deciding, not just steering: you judge distance, your speed, road condition and other users (e.g. where and how hard to brake before a stop sign).
  • Health, personality, feelings and general state all influence your driving decisions.

Vision / Visual acuity

  • About 90% of the information you need to drive comes through your eyes.
  • Visual acuity = seeing detail at a distance; people with weaker acuity often do not notice. It tends to decline with age and health; only regular eye exams detect a gradual loss.

Field of vision, stereoscopic vision, corrective lenses

  • Field of vision = what you take in while looking at one point; it must let you see sudden obstacles ahead and to both sides.
  • The faster you go, the narrower your field of vision gets. Drugs, alcohol and fatigue narrow it too; so can eye or neurological problems and glasses with very wide temples.
  • Stereoscopic (depth) vision lets you judge distances to objects, even moving ones.
  • If you need glasses or contact lenses to drive, your licence shows Condition A; driving without them is an offence (fine).

Night vision

  • Night driving is riskier for everyone because headlight range is limited.
  • Signs are reflective and visible from far away; non-reflective objects are seen only up close, so do not judge your headlight range by reflective objects alone.
  • Two key night abilities: seeing in low light and resisting glare. Recovery from glare gets slower with age.
  • Do not wear dark glasses (sunglasses) at night: they reduce visual acuity.

Physical problems

  • Health professionals may report to the SAAQ anyone aged 14 or older they consider medically or visually unfit to drive; they cannot be sued for doing so.
  • The SAAQ may suspend a licence, change its conditions, refuse it, or require a new exam or medical assessment.
  • Migraine, fever and similar problems: avoid driving. If you feel ill while driving, stop in a safe place.

Fatigue and mental state

  • Most common causes of drowsiness: lack of sleep, a monotonous road, being unused to night driving, a car interior that is too warm (a heavy meal can also cause it).
  • Warning signs (yawning, itchy eyes, brief hallucinations) mean it is time to stop. Stretching helps on long trips; a few minutes' rest may help briefly, but only sleep really restores you once drowsiness sets in.
  • Do not drive under psychological stress or strong emotion (sadness, anger).

Electronic devices

  • Drivers may not use a hand-held electronic device. Holding one (in the hand or any other way) = presumed to be using it, whether it is switched on or not.
  • Covers cell phones, MP3/portable media players, portable satellite radios, tablets, screens showing information not useful for driving, devices for email/Internet.
  • Hands-free use is permitted but not advised: talking on the phone is itself a distraction.
  • "While driving" includes being stopped for signs, signals or traffic (waiting at a red light, in a traffic jam).

Electronic devices (continued)

  • Stopped safely and legally at the side of the road = no longer driving, even with the engine running.
  • Allowed: dashboard-installed or dashboard-mounted equipment where only the microphone/receiver is held, e.g. CB radios, walkie-talkies, central battery telephone systems.
  • Tips: switch the device off before leaving; if you must use it, pull off where parking is allowed and safe — e.g. roadside where the limit is under 70 km/h (Guide de la route 4th ed. (2024), p. 65: "moins de 70 km/h"), a parking lot, a service area; or let a passenger handle it.
  • Except in an emergency, nobody may stop on a highway shoulder or on highway access/exit ramps.

Electronic devices: legal consequences

  • First offence: 5 demerit points + fine of $300 to $600.
  • Repeat offence (within a 2-year reference period): another 5 points, minimum fine doubles to $600, and immediate licence suspension: 1st repeat 3 days, 2nd repeat 7 days, 3rd or later repeat 30 days.

Alcohol

  • In Québec alcohol is a factor in collisions linked to about 32% of deaths, 16% of serious injuries, 5% of minor injuries (2006–2010 average: 185 deaths and over 2,500 injuries a year).
  • Impairment can start below 0.08 (80 mg/100 ml); 0.05 (50 mg/100 ml) can already significantly impair an average adult.
  • Young drivers are more affected: at 0.03 (30 mg/100 ml), a driver aged 16–19 has three times the risk of a fatal accident.
  • Hosts: stop serving alcohol at least one hour before the evening ends; arrange rides; offer guests a bed.
  • Regular drinkers only get an illusion of sobriety. Food slows absorption but does not prevent a high BAC.
  • The liver eliminates 90% of alcohol at a fixed rate; walks or showers do nothing — only time eliminates alcohol.
  • Effects: fixed stare instead of scanning, poorer distance judgment and night adaptation, slower glare recovery, more risk-taking, slower decisions, overconfidence, poor coordination.

Drugs and medication

  • All drugs (cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines…) and some medications (anxiolytics, antidepressants, sedatives…) impair driving; combined with alcohol the risk rises sharply.
  • Cannabis may be legal, but driving under its influence is prohibited (less vigilance, slower reflexes, poor coordination, impaired judgment).
  • Tranquilizers and sleeping pills can act like alcohol; antihistamines can cause drowsiness — read the label, ask a doctor or pharmacist. Do not drink alcohol while on medication.

Your mind-set

  • Rush hour and getting on/off highways are common sources of driver conflict; moderate your behaviour.
  • Highway Safety Code: all road users must be careful and considerate, especially toward vulnerable users (pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists); drivers must take extra care around them.
  • Plan times and routes to avoid congestion instead of using the shoulder or stop-and-go tactics.

Observation; staying alert and judgment

  • Look ahead, to both sides and behind before passing, changing lanes, crossing an intersection or merging.
  • More accidents happen at night and on weekends: be extra vigilant then.
  • Accept delay rather than make a hasty move; road work, fog, a lost driver ahead etc. call for patience.

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