Q. I thought I had read that you could start the process for your driver’s license renewal up to six months prior to the expiration date. However, when I went onto the Department of Motor Vehicles website, it stated I wasn’t eligible to renew. It also states that renewal notices will be sent out 60 days before the expiration. Do I have to wait until I get the renewal notice to find out if I can take the eLearning option?
– Marilyn Sue, Long Beach
A. No, you don’t.
Those renewal notices are a courtesy, and they are not the key.
If you start the process online, you can typically do so three months before your expiration date (Let Honk be the first to say: Happy birthday!).
If you choose to do everything in person in a DMV office, you generally must wait until two months before your license expires, said Chris Orrock, a DMV spokesman.
The eLearning option is a good way to go. Unlike the knowledge test, which used to be called the “written test,” you cannot fail it.
It has sections, each with a quiz that can be taken as many times as you want. And you can step away from eLearning and then go back and complete it.
Q. The new toll road on the 405 has a posted, changeable sign. I own an all-electric vehicle with stickers allowing the driver to use carpool lanes without a passenger. Am I allowed to use that toll road at no cost? The sign does not make it clear. Would it require the purchase and use of a FasTrak Flex transponder? I’d happily buy the device if it means free use of the toll road.
– Richard Daskam, Signal Hill
A. On the 405 Express Lanes, motorists with Clean Air Vehicle stickers that have not expired – think those that are yellow, blue, burgundy or green – receive 15% off of the posted price, Richard.
The Flex transponder (the one you set to show how many folks are in the car) is not needed to get the discount; the transponder sticker issued by any tollway in the state will do.
You may need to make a call, though.
“The vehicle would need to be designated by the account agency as a clean-air vehicle in their system,” said Joel Zlotnik, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which oversees the 405 Express Lanes.
Each tollway will have its own policy on whether the clean-air stickers will get a reduced toll or free passage.
For example, the 91 Express Lanes, which the OCTA also oversees, offers free travel for zero-emission vehicles registered with that agency. The exception is eastbound from 4 to 6 p.m. on weekdays, when the toll is half of the regular price for those vehicles.
HONKIN’ FACT: There were 274 reported freeway shootings in California last year, down from 349 in 2022, according to the California Highway Patrol. Four people were killed in last year’s shootings and 68 injured, both dips from 2022.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk
