California-No more car pool stickers left for Hybrid drivers

So Locothrope you propose I take local roads driving from the San Fernando Valley to San Diego?

 

I think neanderthal makes some good points as I see it now. I'm a new prius owner and lucky enough to be able to bike to work now after years of long distance vanpooling and riding a commuter bus. I would be in favor of seeing hybrids get some commuting breaks like perhaps 1 passenger instead of two qualifying them for the carpool lane and maybe some parking breaks as some cities have done. They do take up the same space while running cleaner so getting other drivers out of their cars and doubling up in a hybrid is win-win. Until I read this thread, I had been regretting the fact that I won't be able to get a carpool sticker to make those trips to the bay area easier. I plan to stick to the train for those anyway. We have just managed to find a good home for our trusty old camry so are now a one car family and trying to keep our impact smaller as we find more ways to do so. Not everyone is able to do so but my daily observations tell me a lot more could be trying to.

If I was commuting & parking downtown on a daily basis, I'd be tempted to use my motorcycle which can park for free in some cases anyway. I'm going to try and keep the smug factor down during my prius encounters and just enjoy the qualities of the car. I hear there is a South Park episode that puts that issue in perspective anyway...

Dale
p.s. We're only on our second tank of gas but enjoying the 45.5 mph we've maintained so far.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(neanderthal @ Feb 24 2007, 01:06 PM) [snapback]395869[/snapback]</div>

 

haha Are you kidding me? Good points?

His first post was a giant off-topic rant that contained exactly one statement of fact, which is a link to a self-claimed "marketing/research" organization. If you google their name the first 2 pages are all that one study - perhaps they're stretching the facts a bit to make a splash and market themselves! The study makes a lot of assumptions about driving habits that, frankly, I doubt apply to any Prius enthusiasts you'll find on this forum, though those assumptions are likely more realistic than the assumptions Locothrope seems to be operating on. It further insinuates that the use of energy in any form is inherently pollution - neglecting the fact that burning gas in the middle of a city contributes to smog, while producing energy at a large power plant (providing all that other energy used to make a car) benefits from efficiencies of mass production and in many cases isn't as big a polluter as burning gas.

But Locothrope clearly didn't come here for a discussion of fact - he came here to make assumptions about the majority of this forum and bash and label them, and throw out one link he came across that made him feel justified about his bias. I doubt he even gives a crap about the environment, he's just here to bash Prius drivers by any means necessary.

If he actually wants to discuss end-to-end pollution of a car, which by the way is something Toyota budgets to their car teams while the makers of Jeep Wrangler do not, he should create a thread where that is the topic, and until now I waited for him to do so, but it's clear at this point from his inaction and continued ranting his only purpose here is to insult others.

It's not he doesn't belong here because we have some sense of "entitlement." He doesn't belong here because he has no constructive purpose.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SoopahMan @ Feb 7 2007, 06:15 PM) [snapback]386645[/snapback]</div>

Santa Monica IS included. B)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SoopahMan @ Feb 20 2007, 06:05 PM) [snapback]393566[/snapback]</div>

Nothing will happen. Your photo doesn't really prove that this person was driving alone - there could have been two midgets in the back seat. If it really was a violation, it's an infraction and a cop would have had to be there and see it him/herself.

I recall reading about someone that has a website where you can post this kind of stuff - presumedly to embarrass the offender, as if anyone will ever see it.

I'd put the camera away and just drive.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Curtis SAC @ Feb 27 2007, 11:02 PM) [snapback]397697[/snapback]</div>

Oh... I'm not driving around with a camera in my hands, I thought I made it clear I had a passenger who took the photo.. in fact the angle of the picture should probably point that out as well.

I just posted the photo here to be funny, and ultimately didn't send the photo anywhere, it really would've had to be more thorough to accomplish anything. It is too bad she was able to get so far in that lane though - I was stuck behind her for about 100 miles on the way to SD, never saw a cop, and she left only at her leisure.

 

If Lieu and Lieber were interested in clearing up congestion, then perhaps actually enforcing the carpool lane requirements might do that... cameras, maybe. Although I am fortunate enough to not have to be on the routes that have "diamond lanes" on a regular basis, when I do travel them I do notice that many, if not most, of the vehicles in those lanes are violating the 2 or 3 person requirement. Big SUV's with the driver moving way faster than the posted speed, and one-handed since it looks obvious that one hand is holding a cellphone...

 

Geez, this bites! I sent my application in in mid to late January and the check hasn't been cashed or returned to me via mail so I have no idea where i stand.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lynjolie @ Mar 8 2007, 07:51 PM) [snapback]402603[/snapback]</div>

You, halpo25, myself and 700 or so others are apparently in the same state of limbo. See the thread "latest # of hov stickers" on this website. The DMV, in my opinion, should have handled this better by announcing the approaching limit being reached and given a concrete deadline so everyone knew where they stood when they purchased their cars. By the time of their Feb. 2 announcement, there were already 700+ applications over the limit. I suggest writing Assemblymembers Lieber and Lieu as I already did.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tarzprius @ Mar 8 2007, 09:46 PM) [snapback]402644[/snapback]</div>

I'm sorry that there are not more stickers. For that matter, I'm sorry that there are not not more carpool lanes, higher gas prices, higher gas guzzler taxes, higher CAFE standards. Having said that, I don't think it's really DMV's responsibility to notify the public on a daily basis what the current sticker situation is. There is a number posted in the thread where people have been able to phone in for quite some time and actually get a human who would give them the latest data.

 

Same for me. Sent application Jan 20. No news.

A friend of mine has sent the application on Feb 2nd and he got the letter 2 weeks after saying "no more stickers"

I agree on writing "Assemblymembers Lieber and Lieu"

Why don;t you sent us what you wrote so we can all send the same message and enforce the case?

Good. Post the number so we can all call.

 

I bought my car on January 13 -- I never even had a chance to send in an application (I still don't have my registration, which was needed for the Fastrak transponder -- which is needed for the application). I just found out what my license plate number was on March 10 (got the title in the mail!).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(opus17 @ Mar 13 2007, 04:30 PM) [snapback]405005[/snapback]</div>

Sorry to hear that. I bought my Prius Jan 9th and got my license plates a week later. I told the dealer I wanted my plates in a week, or I wouldn't buy the car. They came through, and I got my stickers Feb 3rd. Hopefully they will issue more stickers. Take it easy

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(opus17 @ Mar 13 2007, 04:30 PM) [snapback]405005[/snapback]</div>

Finally got my plates -- March 16! Now I can apply for that special Fastrak transponder! (Maybe I should, if the program gets renewed, which doesn't seem likely).

Good thing my dealer "expidited" my plates!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(opus17 @ Mar 16 2007, 09:21 PM) [snapback]407106[/snapback]</div>

WOW, We bought our car Feb. 18-- the plates arrived 3/11. Of course ours were NOT expidited.
Carl

 

Bad news from my side. I got the letter from DMV last week saying that the number of issued stickers has reached the max quota.

I submit the application on jan 30. I guess we have to hope in Governator

Bad news from my side. I got the letter from DMV last week saying that the number of issued stickers has reached the max quota.

I submit the application on jan 30. I guess we have to hope in Governator