– Steve Legare, Manhattan Beach

A. Yes.

Like a loaf of bread, they all have expiration dates.

Currently, only burgundy, lime green, yellow and blue stickers allow the driver to take a carpool lane without a passenger. The first three colors expire on Sept. 30, 2025; those with blue stickers only have the rest of this year.

To help the environment, the state offered stickers in waves to owners of qualifying new versions of zero- or low-emission vehicles to get those cars and trucks on the roadway instead of gas-fueled models. After awhile, perhaps a couple of years, the state yanks back the carrot for a wave of vehicles. The next wave gets a different color or style of sticker, so officers can tell them apart.

This all started back in 1999, via the California Legislature.

“The current program will end on Sept. 30, 2025, unless new legislation is passed,” said John Swanton, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, which keeps the official list of the qualifying vehicles.

Letting non-carpoolers into carpool lanes has always been a bit of a balancing act – the feds get grouchy when there are so many cars and trucks in those lanes as to clog ’em and slow ’em down.

“It’s an incentive that has a finite amount of availability,” Swanton explained. “Several times over the past two decades that this program has existed, the growing numbers of new vehicle sales have required the Legislature to modify the program to make sure that it continued to drive new vehicle sales, but did not overwhelm the HOV lanes.”

Q. Dear wise one: When drivers reach the age of 70, they typically must renew their driver’s license every five years by taking a test – even though they probably know the rules of the road forwards and backwards. So why don’t kids who ride e-bike/scooters ( these are motor vehicles) also need to take a class and test about the rules of the road? That should be required BEFORE they are allowed to ride them on public roads and sidewalks. For our safety as well as theirs.

– Bobbie Prentice, Santa Ana

A. Our rules of the road are determined by the state’s lawmakers. Honk can’t even figure out why his lint filter fills up, but his clothes don’t shrink, so he isn’t sure why e-bikes aren’t regulated much.

He does know that a bill that would have moved the state closer to having e-bikers without driver’s licenses pass an online test and get a photo ID died about a week ago. It would have also prohibited those under age 12 from riding e-bikes.

Right now, the restrictions are limited: There are three classes of e-bikes, with the first two allowed to go up to 20 mph. Third-class e-bikes can go up to 28 mph, but the rider must be at least 16, wear a helmet and not have a passenger.

HONKIN’ FACT: A 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint is on the auction block later this month at GAA Classic Cars in North Carolina. The late, great Jimmy Buffett bought it in 2002 with 8,578 miles on the odometer. He added a roll bar for his surf boards and, the auction house says, the convertible also sports “his extravagant sound system.” The Falcon is metallic blue with a white top. The car now has roughly 11,845 miles on it. Included in the sale is a signed guitar.

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

– 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

– Brian Donnell, Westminster 

A. Well, Brian, the ol’ Honkinator rounded up some info, but he is not so sure it will assuage you.

That greenery is part of the $2.16 billion widening and general improvement project of the 405, which added a couple of lanes in both directions between Costa Mesa and the Long Beach border and was overseen by the Orange County Transportation Authority.

“The landscaping at the Euclid, Magnolia and Brookhurst streets on- and off-ramps includes trees, ground cover and low shrubs,” said Megan Abba, an OCTA spokeswoman, in an email. “Each of these interchanges includes detention ponds, which are installed to provide a temporary holding basin for rainwater. Within the basins, there are plants typically composed of native grasses. Throughout the project, this includes a native, low-growing grass blend and irrigation. …

“In general, the selection of plant species (was) based on Caltrans or city requirements, depending on which agency will maintain the area,” she said. “All the plant species that were selected are low maintenance and are either native or adapted species that are drought tolerant.”

Caltrans added its thoughts.

“Wherever possible, native vegetation is selected,” Nathan Abler, a spokesman for the agency in Orange County, told Honk in an email. “The vegetation in the retention basins serves two purposes, the first is to provide stabilization of the retention basins to prevent erosion, and the second is for aesthetics.”

Q. Can a veteran with a Disabled Veteran license plate drive, by himself, in a regular carpool lane? I am aware of the procedure to go through in order to drive free in express/toll lanes with the plate.

– Jerry L. Shultz, Long Beach

A. Sadly, no.

Honk would be a big-time supporter of veterans with specialized veteran plates – such as the one you mentioned, Jerry, and those for drivers who are former prisoners or war or the recipients of a Purple Heart – getting more perks.

But the law isn’t so benevolent.

“He must have a passenger,” said Angelia Gonzales, an officer and spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol’s South Los Angeles station house that patrols freeways in your town. “The law says the carpool lane is for high-occupancy vehicles.”

HONKIN’ FACT: The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has no sense of humor – and no clue. By 2026, it will outlaw humorous freeway signs, saying the messages should be clear and not distracting, according to The Associated Press. Well, Honk thinks the suits are aiming for boring signs that won’t get you thinking. Some fun ones from the past: “Use Yah Blinkah” (Massachusetts), “Visiting in-laws? Slow down, get there late” (Ohio), “Don’t drive Star Spangled Hammered” (Pennsylvania), and “Hands on the wheel, not your meal” (Arizona).

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

–  Bob Bernal, San Clemente

A. Officer’s discretion.

Cops choose when they pull someone over. Maybe the officer is after those doing something more dangerous, such as speeding or driving drunk. Or maybe the number of illegally tinted windows out there overwhelms some of them – those violations are more plentiful than even the number of Honk fans.

Under the law, in California, the windshield and front side windows can’t have much tinting at all, and most vehicles likely got the allowance at the factory.

Sergio Rivera, a CHP officer and spokesman based out of Santa Ana, said he has a limit.

“If I can’t see male or female, if I’m not doing something else, I could make that stop,” he said.

Officers give warnings, fix-it tickets or, on occasion, full-blown citations.

Q. I’m a disabled veteran with “DV” plates and have a decal transponder. Apparently the Riverside County toll agency didn’t get the memo about the DV exemption. I was charged for driving on the northbound 15 Express Lanes in November – a $2 charge for the short trip. I called the agency I got my transponder from and it said Riverside County doesn’t participate in the program. So what’s up, my friend?

– Mike Mann, Anaheim Hills

A. Mike, as you likely know, tollways in the state are linked by one aspect – they all use the same styles of transponders. But different governments oversee them, and Al Einstein would struggle grasping all of the different policies they operate under while tooling around.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, a state law kicked in that gave owners of certain license plates for veterans – such as those for Purple Heart recipients, former American prisoners of war, or disabled veterans – free passage on many, but not all, tollways in the Golden State.

Mike, you were on a tollway that doesn’t honor your plates, at least for now.

“The 91 Express Lanes and 15 Riverside Express Lanes have different discount policies for motorists who have special recognition plates including disabled veterans plates,” Ariel Alcon Tapia, a spokesman for the Riverside County Transportation Commission, told Honk.

In short, the 15 Express Lanes tollway is not covered by the new law.

“This means there is no discount program for disabled veterans or other special recognition plates,” Tapia said, in regard to the 15 Express Lanes. “However, Riverside (15) Express account holders with disabled veterans or special recognition license plates can register their account to receive toll-free travel on other eligible toll lanes throughout California such as the 91 Express Lanes.”

The commission could decide at some point to honor the special veteran plates if it chooses to do so.

The best way to determine if a tollway honors the plates is to call and ask its agency or search the website.

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

– Daniel A. Schary, Lakewood

A. The Stockton station house of the California Highway Patrol has a Facebook page that offers a weekly feature, “Weird Wednesday.” A reader’s fun question is posted and hours later answered by an officer.

“Yes, it is perfectly legal to drive a vehicle in California without wearing anything on your feet,” the officer said one Wednesday. “It is a common misconception that it is illegal to drive barefoot, but there are no laws in the state requiring drivers to wear anything on their feet.”

Honk seems to recall he was told years ago it was illegal, or had been.

“I don’t think it was ever illegal,” said Sergio Rivera, an officer and spokesman for the California Highway Patrol based at the Santa Ana station house. “Not that I am aware of.”

Q. Honk: I’ve looked and read a lot of sources regarding getting a vet license plate (partly for the free Express Lanes benefit), but haven’t found specific forms or the process. Would you help me get the info I need?

– Robert Adams, Rancho Mission Viejo

A. Honk and Robert had a nice chat the other evening, about his town and the fact he served in the U.S. Air Force from 1970 to ’74, including time in Vietnam.

The 405 Express Lanes, like many tollways in California, does offer free travel to those with Disabled Veteran, Congressional Medal of Honor, Pearl Harbor Survivor, Ex-Prisoner of War or Purple Heart license plates (Some tollways have an expanded list). To get those takes documentation to prove that the vehicle owner deserves the recognition.

These fine folks can go to dmv.ca.gov and search for “Special License Plates” and then go to “Special Recognition License Plates” to learn how to get most of those plates. After receiving them, you would register the plates with a toll agency.

“If you have a qualifying veteran plate and an account with any agency, it’s good on any toll facility in the state,” said Joel Zlotnik, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which oversees the 405 Express Lanes.

But …

California does not offer special license plates for veterans in general, that only they can get (it should).

There are “HONORING VETERANS” plates. However, they do not require any proof of U.S. armed forces service – anyone can get them.

Hence, no benefit on the tollway.

That type of license plate used to just say “VETERAN,” prompting some – probably many – to conclude the driver had been in the U.S. military when he or she might not have been.

To clear up the confusion, more than a decade ago, the California Department of Veterans Affairs and another veterans organization successfully asked that the plates instead say, “HONORING VETERANS” beneath the number.

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

– Harvey Gershenson, Mission Viejo

A. You seemed to know this, Harvey, but Honk didn’t until he checked in with Chris Orrock, a Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman:

Disabled-person license plates don’t offer personalized sequences, probably because the special icon and the “DP” on them doesn’t offer room for many numbers or letters.

So, for the 405 Express Lanes, Harvey, you and GR8WIFE would be out of luck.

To qualify on the 405, a person must be issued disabled-person plates and be in the car during the trip to get free passage. Yes, easy for someone to borrow the vehicle and cheat – but, in truth, most traffic laws depend on us to follow them because it is the right thing to do.

Those having disabled-person plates would still need to get a transponder from that specific tollway – that system does not have automatic-license plate readers like some tollways. Also, you would have to set aside $40 to $50 in a pot in case you use another tollway system and get charged there.

The 91 Express Lanes has the same deal – but you would need to set it up specially with that tollway for the benefit on that stretch.

HONKIN’ UPDATE: A couple of weeks ago, Honk said he would return with what was charged by Caltrans for picking up metal pipes that a semitruck’s trailer dumped all over the northbound 5 Freeway on the Grapevine the day before Thanksgiving.

As Honk previously said in these confines, the trucker or his company were responsible to pick them up and the oil that was spilled as well. Honk had been told that Caltrans picked up the pipes and would send a bill.

The trucker or the company hired firms to clean up both messes, it turns out.

Still, Caltrans did send a bill.

“The responsible party paid for the cleanup and disposal of the pipes by a company,” Michael Comeaux, a Caltrans spokesman, told Honk in an email. “Caltrans will be billing the responsible party for traffic control only. Caltrans incurred a cost of approximately $6,607 for traffic control for this incident.”

Some in the motoring public likely wanted to send their own bills.

The mishap occurred at about 11 a.m., and at 5:50 p.m., according to a CHP log, northbound traffic was backed up for 31 miles, costing drivers an estimated one-hour, 40-minute delay.

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

(Volume 2 for ’23)

Some traffic signals, especially those near wilderness, are getting yellow, reflective borders. If the power goes out – such as when utility companies cut it to prevent equipment from starting a fire – motorists can better see they are approaching an intersection that needs to be treated like a stop sign. …

A fishline runs above some Irvine streets that, along with a berm and walls, creates an eruv. Approved by the City Council nearly 20 years ago, the eruv allows some people of the Jewish faith to do things they otherwise would not on the Sabbath in public spaces, such as carrying items or pushing along a stroller or a wheelchair. …

Drivers can’t put nicknames on licenses – such as “Jim,” “John” or “Jack” – if not part of what the Department of Motor Vehicles considers the person’s “complete legal name.” …

How many of these driving secrets do you know?

The magnetic strip on the back of driver’s licenses holds the same info as on the front. …

When truckers are at fault for losing a load from a flatbed or a trailer on a freeway, they or their company can be sent a bill for the cleanup by Caltrans. …

A photo of your driver’s license on your cellphone is not enough – the law says you must carry the real McCoy. …

If you see what you consider an offensive message in a personalized license-plate sequence, you can ask the DMV to re-consider allowing it on the roadway. But from Jan. 1 2021, into this past September, of the 28 the agency looked at again, only one was yanked from use. …

On public-transit buses, only the driver must wear a seat belt under federal law. …

Motorists should shop around when signing up for a tollway. Even though transponders work throughout the state, what you are charged overall can depend on which system you initially signed up for. …

To renew a motorcyclist endorsement, riders cannot take eLearning – an online seminar that one can’t fail, available to many car and small-truck drivers – instead of the traditional knowledge test. …

Running a red (meter) light on a freeway on-ramp is a moving violation. …

Honk wishes everyone in Honkland (and everywhere else, too) a wonderful holiday season and a lifetime of sober, safe travels. …

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. X, formerly calledTwitter: @OCRegisterHonk

– Walt  Horeczko, La Mirada

A. Honorable Honk – has a nice ring to it, yes?

Walt is likely referring to this:

The day before Thanksgiving, a semitruck with a flatbed trailer was speeding on the northbound 5, south of Grapevine Road, and lost control and dumped its load of 20- and 30-foot metal tubes, said Santiago Hernandez, a California Highway Patrol spokesman and officer who happened to be in on the investigation.

(The pipes, in CHP photos, Walt, sure do look like rebar).

Hernandez said the straps holding down the load looked pretty worn down, and added that the semi dropped a lot of oil as well.

No one was hurt, Hernandez said, but a half-dozen or so other vehicles suffered damaged, one in the front-end and others inflicted with minor woes. Those repairs, of course, should be covered by the trucker’s or his company’s insurance.

All four northbound lanes were shut down at one point, leading to congestion that went on for miles and miles.

“It was quite an ordeal that day,” Officer Hernandez recalled.

The trucker was given a warning, with his truck having a bunch of vehicle violations and put out of service and towed away.

The trucking company had to get a specialist out there to clean up the oil. As to the pipes, Caltrans workers removed them and the state agency was to send the bill to the trucking company.

“As far as I know, there wasn’t any direct major damage that had to be taken care of, so I think it was more equipment hours and labor hours that would’ve been invoiced directly to that company,” Christian Lukens, a Caltrans spokesman for Kern and Tulare counties, told Honk.

(Honk has asked Caltrans what the bill was for the pipe removal and will provide it in these confines if he can lasso it.)

HONKIN’ FACT: Even though the ol’ Honkster is a balding gent with a gray ‘stache, he still gets a kick out of keeping an eye on Santa’s whereabouts beginning on Christmas Eve. You can too, at noradsanta.org. The North American Aerospace Defense Command updates where Mr. Claus and his reindeer are while miraculously dropping off presents all over the world.

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

– Gary Pulford, Costa Mesa

A. Get that switchable transponder, Gary, which officially is called a FasTrak Flex.

“You can move the switchable transponder,” said Joel Zlotnik, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), which manages the new 405 Express Lanes. “The system will know (there are two transponders aboard) and charge you the lowest available toll. … You will get the free toll.”

On the 405 Express Lanes, if there are three occupants, you adjust the Flex transponder to show this and your travel is free. For the first three and a half years, two occupants can ride for free during non-peak hours (see 405expresslanes.com).

Gary, Honk recommends you get your transponder from the TCA, which operates the 241 and 73 tollways, for $20 and avoid the OCTA’s required deposit. Should you ever go solo on the 405 Express Lanes, your toll will show up on your TCA bill.

(The TCA sells the Flex transponders as a courtesy; on TCA tollways, the Flex doesn’t help with discounts.)

Q. I consider myself a good driver – no tickets or accidents in many, many years. But now that I’ve seen the ever-bent lane dividers on the westbound 405/101 transition being constantly repaired for years, I worry about the very long stretch of those bendable dividers on the new Orange County tollway. It’s only been in use a few weeks and dozens were bent into the roadway. It’s less of an issue, perhaps, on the toll section where there seems to be more clearance to avoid the ones protruding into the traffic lane. But I worry about the hazard to the left-most regular traffic lane. Many drivers are easily intimidated by sudden occurrence of such obstacles. I think this very long-distance use of that method of lane division is a very poor decision that’s going to cause people some serious damage or injury. How do we get the transit agency to reconsider these lane dividers?

–  Gene Goldstein, Woodland Hills

A. Well, Gene, it is safe to say those dividers, called channelizers, are here to stay for a while – at least.

Not too long ago, the 241 Toll Road, also in Orange County and near the 91 Freeway, added a bunch, and 11,000 of them were put in for the new 405 Express Lanes, the roadway you are talking about.

The channelizers, of course, are to keep cheaters from going in and out of the Express Lanes to dodge the charging system.

At least some channelizers, such as the 405’s, are plastic and bendable so police cars and ambulances can roll over them when responding to emergencies. When hit, they generally pop back up.

Zlotnik says they meet Caltrans’ standards, are watched via camera 24 hours a day and taken care of immediately if warranted. A crew, each month, goes out and replaces any ones that are missing or too damaged.

The OCTA has been operating the 91 Express Lanes, which has channelizers, for two decades, Zlotnik said, and he wasn’t aware of a loose or bent one causing a problem.

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

– Bryan Haynes, Anaheim

A. Have you ever seen those furniture sales, Bryan, when you buy a couch, an easy chair and a TV – and the ottoman is free?

Well, the sticker transponders are indeed free, but if you get one through the 405 Express Lanes you will pay out more than the actual tolls, which, frankly, Honk was unaware of until you and Tony Glinskas of Huntington Beach pointed this out. The exception is for those who don’t have to pay tolls, such as motorcyclists and carpoolers, although they also have to set aside a pot of money.

To sign up for that tollway, which opened Dec. 1 in Orange County, there are three options;

— The Standard Plan, which has a $2 monthly fee

— The Convenience Plan, with no monthly fee but a $100 enrollment charge

— The Special Access Plan, which is for those who qualify for free travel, such as motorcyclists, carpoolers and drivers with certain veteran license plates

Now, as you pointed out, Bryan, the 405 Express Lanes requires all three options to set aside funds – $40 to $50, via cash or a credit or a debit card, from which any toll would be drawn. When you surpass that amount, the next chunk of dough will automatically be taken from, say, your bank account or tacked onto your credit card.

Each government that oversees a tollway can decide how to charge users. In this case, the Orange County Transportation Authority board made the call.

Honk asked a spokesman for that agency, Joel Zlotnik, about the extra fees.

“The account types are the same as (those for) the 91 Express Lanes, OCTA’s other express lanes operation,” he said in an email. “The account fees cover administrative costs including credit-card processing, toll-transaction processing, statement generation, customer-service-center operations and other administrative functions.”

First-time enrollees get a free week on the 405 Express Lanes, and a second free week, as well, if members of the Automobile Club of Southern California, Zlotnik said.

Now, the OCTA could have, of course, chosen to just include any needed charges onto the actual tolls and not assessed the other fees.

But, fine readers, you can avoid those extra fees by getting your free sticker transponder from a different public agency, such as from the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operate the 73, 133, 241 and 261 toll roads.

The TCA charges an extra fee only if the driver wants a monthly paper invoice.

In California, there are two basic transponders, the sticker one, and the switchable version ($15 from the OCTA, and $20 from the TCA) that provides free travel or a discount when carpooling on some tollways.

Your tolls will be on your bill from whatever agency you signed up with.

For example, the Honk family has four sticker transponders from the TCA and doesn’t want a paper invoice – so no extra fee for driving on the 405 or elsewhere.

But each agency can offer its own discounts and deals, so all interested motorists really should look around at the options and see what works best for them.

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. X, formerly Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk