Queen: The following email was forwarded to the Queen by a reader:

Commuter: Dear Highness, this email is a new one, at least to me and perhaps to many others. Please pass this on if you have space. Thanks

Read the email below:

Subject: GOOD INFORMATION

Just good information you may be able to use. Always press the clear button after credit card transactions at the gas pump. Most of us use credit/debit cards at the gas pump. With the price of gas and people getting desperate, this is likely to occur more often. Please be careful out there!

A co-worker used her credit/debit card to purchase gas at the pump (like most of us do). She received her receipt like normal. However, when she checked her statement, there were two $50 charges added in addition to her purchase. Upon investigation, she found out that because she did not press the 'clear' button on the pump, the employee inside the store was able to use her card to purchase his/her own gas!

To keep this from happening, after you get your receipt, you must press the 'CLEAR' button or your information will be stored until the next customer inserts their card.

Be sure to tell all your friends/family so that this doesn't happen to them!

Tony, cyberspace

Queen: Folks, I've said it once and I'll say it again: Just because someone forwarded you an email, that's clearly been forwarded around the globe, doesn't make it's contents true. Sadly, this applies to

most warnings, wishes, chains, free offers, "true stories," petitions, etc.

I actually had not heard about this email until one of the Queen's coworkers received a very similar forward last week. This time, the fraud "victim" had a name: Chuck. Sadly, I'm willing to be that Chuck doesn't exist.

This friendly "heads up" has been circulated far and wide over the past couple months and it began appearing in inboxes in May, according to the myth debunking Web sites Urban Legend and Snopes. Various versions of the email claim that other customers can "piggyback" your debit card gas purchase if you don't press the "clear" button on the pump after fueling.

Surprise! It's NOT true.

According to Snopes.com: "A properly functioning gas pump will conclude its transaction when its nozzle is returned to its cradle. There is no magic to be had from pressing the 'clear' button: a gas pump that is working the way it should will have already closed the transaction by that point, and a malfunctioning one isn't going to be prompted into righting itself by your (pressing) the 'clear' button a few times. Look instead to your receipt. That the pump dispensed one after you put the gas nozzle back in the cradle is a sign that all went well. If a receipt does not present itself, a trip inside the gas station to discuss the matter with the clerk on duty is in order."

Commuter: OK, so with the new hands free law, what about using a CB radio?

I own a 1989 Ford Ranger that has had this radio in it for years. When my wife and I drive from the East Bay up to the Mendocino Coast for our annual summer camping trip, we've used it to communicate on the road between our two vehicles. She's in her car and I'm driving the truck loaded with our camping gear.

Basically I'm holding and speaking into a microphone, as the radio is bolted below the dash. She has a remote and we're on the same frequency. She holds it to speak and hear. Unlike a cell phone, there's no dialing, etc. Are CB radios now outlawed?

Dan, Concord

Queen: Breaker, breaker 1-9. What's your handle, good buddy? This is Queen Bee, over. We got an alligator in the No. 3, a bear in the air and a pokey four-wheel wagon at the front door.

Who doesn't love CB lingo? (Translation: I'd like to talk on Channel 19. What is your radio name? I'm Queen Bee. There is tire tread in the No. 3 lane, a CHP helicopter overhead and a slow station wagon in front of me.) That was fun.

To answer your question, Dan, "The use of dedicated two-way radios such as walkie-talkies or Citizen Band (CB) radios is not affected by the new law," according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Got questions about your commute? Whether you drive, ride, bike or walk, write the Queen at The Commuter Page, c/o The Times, P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94598, or ccncommuter@bayareanewsgroup.com. Visit the Queen online at ContraCostaTimes.com/queenoftheroad.