Q. Do dog owners have the right to allow their dogs in public parks when children are present? Our Kalama Valley park always has dogs loose and the other day two of them got into a vicious fight right near a children's play area. I'm fed up with it. Should I call 911 when I see this so that my child (and I) can enjoy the park?

A. In general, dogs are not permitted in city and county parks, but there are a number of exceptions, including dog shows, trials and obedience classes; guide dogs and police dogs.

In addition, the city can designate parks or areas within parks where dogs are permitted on leashes. In that case, the rule states: "The handler shall have control of his dog at all times and the dog must be leashed except when performing at dog shows and during training in a dog obedience class or at trials."

If dog owners want their dogs unleashed in the park, there are a number of designated off-leash dog parks around the island. The Hawaiian Humane Society has a list of parks where dogs are allowed at www.hawaiianhumane.org/programs/dogparks/otherparks.html.

You can call the Hawaiian Humane Society at 946-2187 or police at 911 if there is an urgent situation that needs to be dealt with immediately.

Q. I know that it's illegal to hang anything from your interior car mirror due to obstruction of vision. Lately I've been seeing TV ads for portable Global Positioning System units that stick on the inside of a car's windshield. Are these GPS units illegal?

A. According to the Honolulu Traffic Code, attaching a GPS unit to your windshield would be illegal.

"It states that no person shall drive a motor vehicle with a nontransparent material or object suspended within the windshield area as viewed from the driver's seat," said Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

LIGHT BULBS, REDUX

Last week, I answered a question about whether people would have to replace their lighting fixtures to comply with a law that would do away with regular light bulbs. I assumed the question involved a bill before the state Legislature that would ban traditional light bulbs, but several astute readers pointed out that the federal Clean Energy Act passed in December 2007 will require light bulb efficiency to increase by 70 percent by 2020.

To accomplish that goal, the most inefficient incandescent light bulbs will have to be phased out over the next few years.