Question: The other day, I was on the 210 Freeway when a car to the left of me started to move into my lane. I honked my horn to alert him of my presence, but the other driver did not react. I had to slam on my brakes to keep him from hitting me.

Then I noticed that the driver had white strings hanging down from his ears. I know why my horn did not get a reaction. The driver did not hear my horn because he was off in iPod Land and could not hear anything except the music blasting in his ears. What is legal and illegal when it comes to music player headsets when driving? - Greg Powers

Answer: The man from iPod Land was breaking the law, Greg. Unless the devices in one's ears are needed as medical necessities or required as safety devices for one's vocation, it is illegal to drive with any type of earplugs or headsets in or on both ears that affect one's ability to hear. However, iPod Land Man would have been legal if he had been listening to his tunes with an earpiece in just one ear.

I've been seeing this saying around quite a bit lately on license plate frames and window stickers: "I'm not speeding. I'm qualifying!"

That might explain why the traffic school business has been so busy lately ...

Question: On my way home from work, I encounter this scenario: At the entrance to the freeway, a blinking sign reads "Meter On." There are two lanes - one for car pools and the other for everyone else. When I get to the top of the ramp and the metering lights are on steady green, I have been using the car-pool lane, with just myself in the car. Is this legal or illegal? - Jim Longstreet, Chino

Answer: You'd better make sure you have another warm body in the car the next time you try that maneuver, Jim. When signs or lane markings indicate a special use lane, such as the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) markings on the on-ramp you have been traversing, the marking are good 24/7/365. The only exception would be if there were a posted sign on the ramp indicating that the lane was to be used for high-occupancy vehicles only during specific days and/or times.

TheCarConnection.com, a Web site for motor vehicle enthusiasts, recently asked its readers to send them the best excuses they have used to get out of a traffic citation. The following entry from a reader identified only by the screen name of JNavedvm was not the grand prize winner, but it made me smile:

"My sister-in-law was pulled over one day for speeding and she said to the passenger with her, "Oh, dear God, don't let him give me a ticket." The officer came up to her window, and as he was looking over her driver's license, a call came over his radio that the church down the road was on fire. He jumped in his car and told her it was her lucky day.

My sister-in-law said, "God, it really wasn't necessary for you to go to that extreme."

Michelle Groh-Gordy is the owner of InterActive! Traffic School Online at www.trafficinteractive.com , and writes a syndicated weekly column on driving for the publications of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group.