DEAR ABBY: You asked readers to share their pet peeves with you. Mine is careless drivers. I am a single mother who supports her children. I can’t afford to be killed or maimed on the road.

This afternoon I was behind a woman who was driving erratically. She rolled through stop signs, sped up and slowed down for no apparent reason, and switched from lane to lane.

When I was finally able to safely pass her, I saw that she wasn’t drunk as I had suspected­ – but was driving her van down the crowded freeway with her elbows on the wheel because she was using both hands to hold the hamburger she was eating.

Abby, the woman was doing 70 miles an hour. All she needed to do was sneeze once to lose control of her vehicle.

I am angry with people who drive while talking on a cell phone, eating, applying makeup, reading, searching through purses or briefcases, or playing with pets on their laps.

People who are behind the wheel have the power to end not only their own lives and the lives of their passengers, but also the lives of every driver, passenger and pedestrian they encounter in the blink of an eye.

Please, America! Clean up your act. If you don’t have both hands on the wheel and your full attention on the road, then you are not driving responsibly. Maybe your family doesn’t need you alive and healthy, but my kids need me! – CINDY IN MINNEAPOLIS

DEAR CINDY: Something as simple as paying attention and observing the traffic laws would prevent many injuries and death. To do anything less is to invite a tragedy. Every evening there are news reports about perfectly healthy people in the prime of life who lost their lives because of the carelessness of another driver.

When commuters are behind the wheel, it is vital that they keep both hands on the wheel, their eyes on the road and their minds 100 percent on the task at hand.

DEAR ABBY: I recently bought a couple of items in the dollar store here in town. I had $2 in change to pay for them. The owner of the store refused to accept the dimes and told me to go back to the bank and get paper money.

I was under the impression that dimes are legal tender and should have been acceptable. It was a humiliating experience. Am I wrong? – MISS J. IN WHITING, N.J.

DEAR MISS J.: You’re not wrong. Coins are legal tender, and the store owner should have accepted them. By not doing so, the store owner was telling you that your business was not welcome. I wouldn’t blame you if you never set foot in that establishment again.

DEAR ABBY: We have a ring controversy at the office. Some say the engagement ring should be worn on the ring finger of the left hand before marriage. Others insist it should be worn on the ring finger of the right hand until after the ceremony. Which is correct? – FRANK IN MILFORD, N.H.

DEAR FRANK: According to Emily Post, in the United States the engagement ring is worn on the third finger of the left hand – next to the little finger – although in some foreign countries it’s worn on the right hand. It is removed for the wedding ceremony, when the wedding band is placed on the bride’s finger, and replaced immediately after the ceremony outside the wedding ring. (The wedding band is always worn “closest to the heart.”)

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.