Q. You recently talked about Clean Air Vehicle stickers that have not expired. I have a 2019 Kia, all electric. Do you mean to tell me that my stickers expire at some point? And then I can’t drive in the lane by myself?
– 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
