It's a long, tedious drive between South Oakland and State College, where Celia Brockenbaugh visits her daughter each month. To help pass the time during the five-hour drives, she listens to audio books, usually mysteries and classics. The silver stereo headphones Mrs. Brockenbaugh wears while driving bring the books vividly to life, with the sound effects and narrative helping to erase the miles. Last month, she found an unusual bookmark, in the form of a State Police stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The trooper didn't clock Brockenbaugh, who's 54, speeding or making an illegal lane change - he issued her a warning about wearing headphones while driving. She called in after the encounter, disturbed and puzzled about why she's permitted by state law to dial her cellular telephone and yak to friends while driving, but is forbidden from wearing headphones. A State Police spokeswoman, Trooper Diana Grady, offered a simple explanation: "That's the law." However cockeyed the logic, she's right. The rules prohibiting the use of "hearing impairment devices" are stated in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Vehicle Code, Chapter 33, Subsection 3314. "No driver shall operate a motor vehicle while wearing or using one or more headphones or earphones," it states. There are exceptions to this rule, and recent amendments to the code allow cell phones where headphones are excluded. What Mrs. Brockenbaugh didn't know was how these exceptions get made. The cell phone folks have lobbyists, while the folks selling headphones do not. Unfortunately, it's that simple. When the Sony Walkman was introduced about 20 years back, lawmakers quickly enacted legislation banning their use while driving. Debates still simmer over whether wearing headphones while driving is more dangerous than listening to the car stereo at high volume, but the point became moot as the headphone people never bothered to amass the sort of big-money lobby that keeps dangerous devices like car cell phones legal. Last year, the cellular communications lobby greased state capitols to the tune of $29 million. With cell phone use growing by the millions each year, the industry can afford it. The $29 million was well-spent: It proved to be enough to persuade hundreds of politicians to forget about government studies linking cell phone use with accidents. It also helped defeat sensible laws limiting driver cell phone use in 40 states. This makes little sense to Mrs. Brockenbaugh, who admits to feeling more distracted while carrying on a conversation, or even dialing her cell phone while driving, than she does watching the road while listening to words or music on tape. So what does she need to keep Agatha Christie ringing in her ears• A few million bucks might help, for starters. That and access to state lawmakers, who mostly are all ears when you mention putting cash in their coffers and feathers in their caps. It's not that the lawmakers aren't listening. You just have to speak the right language.

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