Q. When we had our car safety inspection done a few months ago, we were told they had to scratch off our decals of Indian feathers in the corners of our rear window because of a stricter law that went into effect in January. Since then, I have seen numerous cars with the rear windows covered in decals. Is there any enforcement of this law by the police? I have noticed a lot of those "In memory of" stickers and wondered if they are legal or who makes the call about whether they obstruct a driver's view?

A. Generally, very few things are allowed on car windshields, said Honolulu Police Maj. Susan Dowsett of the Traffic Division. She said city ordinance specifically says: "Nontransparent materials are not allowed on the front windshield, side wings or side or rear windows of a vehicle which obstructs a driver's clear view of the highway or any intersecting highway."

So the by-the-book answer suggests most opaque decals and stickers are prohibited. There are exceptions: "posters or stickers approved by the chief of police shall be placed at the lower right-hand corner of the front windshield of a left-hand driven motor vehicle or the lower left-hand corner of the front windshield of a right-hand driven vehicle," or another location approved by the chief of police.

But the answer gets fuzzier when you start to talk about what obstructs a driver's view. Police point out the letter of the law while several readers noted that there are a lot of cars driving around with stickers not getting cited.

City vehicle license administrator Dennis Kamimura said the person issuing your safety check gave you good advice. He pointed out that even the blue disabled parking tag many people use should not be up on the rear-view mirror while the vehicle is being driven, even though that's a common sight.

Police do issue citations, Dowsett said. But she said she did not have statistics.

But as for the last part of your question, police say much of the enforcement appears to end up at the discretion of the officer.

Q. On Wyllie Street, near the fire station, the two parking signs offer conflicting information: the top one lists it as tow-away zone for rush-hour weekdays but the bottom one says "No Parking Any Time."

A. City officials agreed that that was pretty confusing and sent out a crew to take a look and remove one of the signs.

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