Alternative to defacing Prius with HOV stickers?

most of my friends think the car is ugly as sin, and they can't believe I'm driving a toyota... so the benefits of the stickers make it worthwhile.

 

Could someone please post what the heck these HOV stickers look like? Unforunately in ohio we done have any such thing as HOV stickers... as we dont have HOV lanes... Although I did get to experience driving in the HOV lane on Interste 5 between Sandiego and LA for 2 days January 2004 when I was out there...

Driving on sothern cali freeways has to be one of the most terrifing experiences of my life.. very narrow lanes, six or more lanes in either direction, traffic moving at 80-90+ miles an hour, and some of the worst and most dangerous driving I have ever seen... Here we just have I-75 and it is two lanes in either direction mostly unless you get up in Toledo then it is 3 or 4 lanes either way although it can be somewhat dicey where I-80/90 intersects I-75 or 475... but still our lanes are at least a foot wider on either side of the car, traffic generally goes 65-70 MPH, and people are more courteous to merge over to let you in/out or slow down to let people over... And people still wave thank you wehn you do so... that does not seem to happen in California..

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I can't comment on the Ohio roads, but I drive the LA freeways daily and I am also very familiar with driving in major cities on the east coast. If you are not used to the freeways and maybe not familliar with the area, where to exit, some of the signage that might be confusing (e.g. on the 110 should you head towards Santa Monica or San Pedro?) - all that might create more anxiety than felt by a local driver.

The traffic here does go at high speed when possible and drivers are not as courteous as in the past, but I find the roads here much better and drivers less aggressive than in some cities in the east.

 

The California ones for hybrids look like this:

[Broken External Image]:http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/Cali_Hybrid_Sticker.jpg

Although I do wish they'd given hybrids the same stickers they give the CNG vehicles...they look the same but are silver instead of yellow. But who am I to complain...I would be pleased to even have those stickers right now. Still waiting.

 

Here are the ones for the LIE in NY. I haven't applied mine yet as it does feel a little sad putting it on the car, but i have to do it.

 

Well I must admit that those stickers are ugly (Both the CA and the NY ones). I would never even put a bumper sticker on my car... I still have my John Kerry sticker taped to the inside of my rear window becasue I dont deface my car permanatly... Fortunalely we doent have enough of a traffic problem in Ohio to need HOV lanes...

 

Find new friends!

 

Wel i think the Prius is one sexy beast of a car... your friends (and a couple of mine) need to have their eyes examined...

 

you have alternatives. add a passenger or drive with everyone else. considering the opportunity provided you, i find it hard to believe these complaints.

if the stickers bother you, DONT DO IT

 

I agree, and you could always give me the stickers until mine arrive, I wouldn't complain one bit about putting them on my car, I am still waiting for them to even cash my check.

 

I think the stickers are beautiful. They are the main reason I bought the car. What an upgrade. Better than leather! I had major sticker-envy before I got mine, now I smile every time I see them. Driving in the carpool lane has been absolutely wonderful. I always leave by 6:30PM just so I can use the HOV lane before the 7:00PM limit.

 

check out how the NY stickers look on my Black Prius.
http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=1...ndpost&p=229608

I like it, the color scheme matches that of the NY license plates.

 

Here is what they look like on a car:
http://www.ocprius.com/hov.html#STICKER_PICTURES

 

I too refuse to put bumper stickers on my vehicles. I came up with a compromise which has worked fine so far.

Instead of putting the stickers where the DMV suggests (yes, I believe it is just a suggestion), I put the stickers on the windows. I only used two - big one on back and a small one on the side. I certainly haven't been pulled over for having them there and I imagine they're easier for LE to see since they're higher up.

Believe it or not, but you cannot see the stickers while driving, so it doesn't hamper your visibility.

Attached is a crummy phone-pic of the car.

 

Whenever I have had to put a sticker on a car (such as a beach pass) I would cover the middle 80% of the sticky side of the sticker with paper so that only the 10% on the left and 10% on the right was still sticky. This still allows the sticker to be put on the car and it is much easier to take it off when you need/want to.

I plan on doing the same thing with my HOV stickers because the program is a one year pilot program. I am hoping it is continued for another year, but it probably wont go beyond that.

 

According to published information, this "pilot program" runs until 2008. There could be extensions after 2008, so I'm putting my stickers on full-force. Besides, it's easy to take them off with a little heat. This is a lot of stress over nothing.

 

I just kept mine in the glove compartment, but now that I'm using the HOV lane once a week I should probably do something better.

I am thinking of putting a single sticker in the back window and leaving the rest in the glove compartment. My reasoning is:

1. Since the Prius is the only vehicle that qualifies right now, the cops are going to recognize the shape of the car before they recognize the sticker. So you probably don't even need stickers.

2. In order to pull me over for an HOV violation a cop will have to get behind me. At that point he will see the sticker so he will know not to bother.

It's true that this is kind of a halfway solution and they could still ticket me for not having them in the proper places, but I figure I get most of the benefit of the stickers with the least amount of defacement.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tmorrowus @ Mar 29 2006, 04:52 PM) [snapback]231859[/snapback]</div>

Can they really ticket you for having them in the "wrong" location? I say the spots shown on the DMV envelope are merely suggestions. I don't remember seeing any vehicle code referenced. What law would you be violating? The officer has to write you up for something. I'm not sure "stickers not in locations listed on the back of the DMV envelope" is a valid reason.

Also, one reason I initially put my stickers in the window rather than on a painted surface was my concerns for vandalism. If someone wanted to rip the sticker off the car, it would cause a lot less damage to forcibly peel them off the window.


DGStan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jbarnhart @ Mar 28 2006, 04:13 PM) [snapback]231546[/snapback]</div>

I was talking about the NY program. I can't speak about the California one, but the NY DOT website makes it clear that this is a one year pilot program running until March 2007. They will then re-evaluate the traffic impact and decide whether or not to discontinue the program.

I'm obviously hoping it is continued for years, as this was the reason I purchased my car- not that I'm complaining about getting 48 MPG!

 

Carpool-Lane Stickers?? We don't need no stinkin' stickers!! I don't live anywhere near a HOV lane, but the few times I have visited SFO or LAX, it seems that one-half of the HOV-lane drivers were solo! So, city-slickers, what gives??