It's against the law to use a hand-held cell phone while driving. A new state law bans text-messaging while driving. But it's OK to have any sort of live animal in your lap while you drive?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have said, sensibly enough, that pets--remember, unpredictable, moving animals that can go bonkers if they see another moving animal, or fly into the driver's face in the event of a short stop--can't be held in the driver's lap. Incomprehensibly, the governor's reason for this was that he sure had a lot of bills to sign and veto.

But there might yet be hope here. Schwarzenegger got enthusiastic about restrictions on cell-phone use in cars when his own daughter began driving. Maybe the kid needs a Great Dane.