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Is It Legal To Drive With A Disable Placard Hanging From The Rear-View Mirror

This week we'll find out whether it is better to see or not to see disabled placards, whether the disembodied voice of GPS actually has a fan club, and we'll discover the only place where hands-free phones are not required when driving in California.

Question: Many times while driving I see people with disable placards hanging from their rear-view mirror. Isn't this a violation? Even if it is not a violation, it seems that common sense would dictate that the placard would block a driver's view of part of the road, and thus could keep them from seeing something that could pose a danger. Derek, Fontana

Answer: What you have seen are some forgetful drivers, Derek. Disable placards have instructions written right on them which tell the user that they should be removed from the mirror before driving. It is illegal to drive with anything hanging from the rear-view mirror which obstructs the driver's view and these placards are no exception.

Clever Vanity Plate 1: The owner of the white VW GTI summed up all of their driving frustrations in one, long drawn out word. The license plate read: PALEEEZ

More from Derek of Fontana: "I had to laugh at your column about your husband's GPS system's voice. I feel the same about mine sometimes. I've even told it to shut up."

Well, Derek it's too bad the research crew at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute didn't ask for our input. They just completed a study which concluded that 72 percent of drivers feel less stressed when using a GPS device.

I would be willing to bet that they did not conduct the study using the grating voice of my husband's little irritating disembodied friend.

Clever Vanity Plate 2: Spotted a gray Acura TL with the following perky, optimistic license plate: ONASLAB

Q: I was almost run into by a woman on a cell phone driving in a parking lot. Does the new hands-free law extend to private property? Anonymous

A: Nope. Drivers on private property are exempt from the hands-free requirement.

Clever Vanity Plate 3: The driver of a Blue Nissan pickup spilled the beans regarding the secret for his alert, focused driving. His license plate read: NODECAF.

Michelle Pearl is a longtime traffic-school instructor and the owner of InterActive Traffic School Online, www.trafficinteractive.com. Send questions to drivetime@dailybulletin.com or write to DriveTime, c/o the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, PO Box 4000, Ontario, CA 91761. Some reader questions will be answered in print.