CA HOV Stickers Expiring Year End?

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LeafPowerIsIxE

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 3, 2011
Messages
85
Location
San Diego, CA
I may have missed this in a previous post - if so I apologize.
One of the many new laws passed in Corruptafornia for 2018 was to "expire" all HOV white stickers, with no option for renewal, at the end of 2018. I believe new ILEVs will qualify for a revised program, but no extensions are being given for the current white stickers. Is this just a placeholder until federal authorization is granted for the HOV exemptions? That HOV exemption is an incredible benefit.
 
For the tl;dr crowd:

  • Stickers issued to new cars after January 1, 2019 are valid for three full years and then until January 1 of their fourth year.
  • Drivers issued stickers in 2017 and 2018 will be able to apply for a new sticker in 2019 that is valid until January 1, 2022.
  • Stickers issued before January 1, 2017 will expire on January 1, 2019.

All stickers will expire on Jan 1, 2025 unless the Federal government allows CA and other states to extend this program beyond this date.
 
My 2014 came with the white HOV stickers. This is all new to me, I only got the car in October. I live near Los Angeles, fortunately I don't drive freeways much, think I've only used the HOV lanes once or twice with the stickers, when traffic was flowing pretty well. I drive the Leaf conservatively (IOW, slowly) and got tired of being tailgated by other cars, so I got out pretty quickly and just tooled along on the regular lanes. So I won't miss 'em much when the stickers expire, but obviously if I was commuting every day in stop & go traffic, they would be a godsend. I've actually met several EV drivers who say we shouldn't get to drive in the HOV lane. I wouldn't go that far, just enjoy it while it lasts.
 
how is law enforcement supposed to know if a sticker was issued in 2016 or 2017 or 2018. They all look alike! In the past they changed color when they wanted to expire a group. The yellow stickers were expired and then they went to the green/white that is currently in use. If they don't have a new color they will not be able to tell what year it was issued, so how do they determine if its expired?
 
Got to love government regulations.

So a person who got their sticker Jan. 1, 2017 can use it for all of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 which is a 5 full years. But the poor sap who got the sticker Dec. 31, 2016 can only use it for all of 2017 and 2018, just 2 full years. Was the late adopter somehow worthy of the extra 3 year reward? Guess those who adopted early for the benefit of the environment made a big mistake.
 
palmermd said:
how is law enforcement supposed to know if a sticker was issued in 2016 or 2017 or 2018. They all look alike!

As usual, politicians aren't putting forward well thought out rules.
 
palmermd said:
how is law enforcement supposed to know if a sticker was issued in 2016 or 2017 or 2018. They all look alike! In the past they changed color when they wanted to expire a group. The yellow stickers were expired and then they went to the green/white that is currently in use. If they don't have a new color they will not be able to tell what year it was issued, so how do they determine if its expired?

The DMV will have to figure it out real soon.
 
Just learned from https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/california-dmv-plates-hov-stickers.9789/page-35#post-2598431 they'll be issuing RED stickers soon, but stupidly, it's only valid until 1/1/19, just like the white and green ones. Weird!

From the wording, it seems like they might apply to ZEVs like EVs since ZEVs are considered part of ILEVs. Not 100% clear.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/decal reflects this right now. https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm I'm guessing will be updated soon.
 
palmermd said:
how is law enforcement supposed to know if a sticker was issued in 2016 or 2017 or 2018. They all look alike! In the past they changed color when they wanted to expire a group. The yellow stickers were expired and then they went to the green/white that is currently in use. If they don't have a new color they will not be able to tell what year it was issued, so how do they determine if its expired?
That's why people who got them in 2017 and 2018 will have to get new stickers to go past 1/1/19. They'll have new ones that expire at the right time.
 
davewill said:
palmermd said:
how is law enforcement supposed to know if a sticker was issued in 2016 or 2017 or 2018. They all look alike! In the past they changed color when they wanted to expire a group. The yellow stickers were expired and then they went to the green/white that is currently in use. If they don't have a new color they will not be able to tell what year it was issued, so how do they determine if its expired?
That's why people who got them in 2017 and 2018 will have to get new stickers to go past 1/1/19. They'll have new ones that expire at the right time.

I saw the details in another article. When I wrote that, it did not say they were getting new colors, and without that it would be impossible to know when a sticker was applied. It makes sense with another color change.

But really the whole sticker thing is just annoying. Either let them in the lane or not, don't try and only allow new cars and try and get rid of old ones. Really should be just for carpools only, and just stop the sticker program all together.
 
cwerdna said:
Just learned from https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/california-dmv-plates-hov-stickers.9789/page-35#post-2598431 they'll be issuing RED stickers soon, but stupidly, it's only valid until 1/1/19, just like the white and green ones. Weird!

From the wording, it seems like they might apply to ZEVs like EVs since ZEVs are considered part of ILEVs. Not 100% clear.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/decal reflects this right now. https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm I'm guessing will be updated soon.

my best guess:
It sounds like all stickers going forward will be red. Drivers issued stickers in 2017 and 2018 will be able to apply for a new sticker in 2019 that is valid until January 1, 2022. The white and green from 2017 and 2018 would have to be peeled off and replaced with red. The 2018 issued red stickers stay on but must reapply to be valid past 1/1/2019.
 
So let me see if I have this straight:
If a sticker was issued in 2017 or 2018, I can get a new red sticker good until 2022. If it was issued prior to this, after January I am simply out of luck, right?

So, I bought my car in 2017, but I bought it used and it didn't have carpool lane stickers on it already, I got those last year, so according to these rules, I can apply for the new Red stickers.

But a friend of mine who bought their car used can't if their stickers were issued prior to 2017. Additionally, I can't apply for said stickers for our other plugin hybrid as those stickers were originally issued before 2017 as well.
 
cmwade77 said:
So let me see if I have this straight:
If a sticker was issued in 2017 or 2018, I can get a new red sticker good until 2022. If it was issued prior to this, after January I am simply out of luck, right?

So, I bought my car in 2017, but I bought it used and it didn't have carpool lane stickers on it already, I got those last year, so according to these rules, I can apply for the new Red stickers.

But a friend of mine who bought their car used can't if their stickers were issued prior to 2017. Additionally, I can't apply for said stickers for our other plugin hybrid as those stickers were originally issued before 2017 as well.

That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is the stickers were originally set to expire Jan 1 2015. They were later extended to Jan 1 2019. Now they've been extended additional years, but for newer vehicles. This is an attempt to reduce overcrowding on some of the HOV corridors.
 
Nubo said:
That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is the stickers were originally set to expire Jan 1 2015. They were later extended to Jan 1 2019. Now they've been extended additional years, but for newer vehicles. This is an attempt to reduce overcrowding on some of the HOV corridors.

It's not so much an attempt to reduce it, but to allow new eligible vehicles to take advantage of the privilege without making things even worse. Otherwise it might cause new sales of such vehicles to slow down in this state if the privilege were not extended to them. With fuel prices being low and leases available on conventional ICEVs for similar or less money, solo HOV lane access is the only real consumer incentive to go with a plug-in car unless you are conscientious about the environment (not a particularly American trait when our best selling "car" is the Ford F-150).

If they really wanted to reduce crowding, they would take this privilege away from non-carpools completely.
 
palmermd said:
...
But really the whole sticker thing is just annoying. Either let them in the lane or not, don't try and only allow new cars and try and get rid of old ones. Really should be just for carpools only, and just stop the sticker program all together.

It does make sense when you realize that the sticker program is all about selling NEW cars rather than about rewarding EV use in general. The logic is that once a new EV is sold, it's on the road and likely to stay there, so no need to incentivise further ownership. Add to that the fact that only so many cars can fit on the HOV lanes before it becomes no kind of perc at all, and you can see that they have to do it. The only reason the white stickers lasted as long as they did is because, for so many years, there were barely a trickle of alternative fuel vehicles. We're the victims of our own success in a way.

Carpooling is completely different because you have to keep encouraging future behavior, and the act of carpooling removes other vehicles from the road, further reducing congestion. The one that had me scratching my head is allowing motorcycles in the HOV lanes. They aren't particularly clean, so there's really no public purpose to including them that I can see.

However, paid access (Lexus Lane) just chaps my hide completely.
 
RonDawg said:
Nubo said:
That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is the stickers were originally set to expire Jan 1 2015. They were later extended to Jan 1 2019. Now they've been extended additional years, but for newer vehicles. This is an attempt to reduce overcrowding on some of the HOV corridors.

It's not so much an attempt to reduce it, but to allow new eligible vehicles to take advantage of the privilege without making things even worse. Otherwise it might cause new sales of such vehicles to slow down in this state if the privilege were not extended to them. With fuel prices being low and leases available on conventional ICEVs for similar or less money, solo HOV lane access is the only real consumer incentive to go with a plug-in car unless you are conscientious about the environment (not a particularly American trait when our best selling "car" is the Ford F-150).

If they really wanted to reduce crowding, they would take this privilege away from non-carpools completely.
Umm, where do you live that gas prices are low? I can't get gas anywhere near me for less than $3.00 a gallon, I do not call that low by any standard.
 
davewill said:
palmermd said:
...
But really the whole sticker thing is just annoying. Either let them in the lane or not, don't try and only allow new cars and try and get rid of old ones. Really should be just for carpools only, and just stop the sticker program all together.

It does make sense when you realize that the sticker program is all about selling NEW cars rather than about rewarding EV use in general. The logic is that once a new EV is sold, it's on the road and likely to stay there, so no need to incentivise further ownership. Add to that the fact that only so many cars can fit on the HOV lanes before it becomes no kind of perc at all, and you can see that they have to do it. The only reason the white stickers lasted as long as they did is because, for so many years, there were barely a trickle of alternative fuel vehicles. We're the victims of our own success in a way.

Carpooling is completely different because you have to keep encouraging future behavior, and the act of carpooling removes other vehicles from the road, further reducing congestion. The one that had me scratching my head is allowing motorcycles in the HOV lanes. They aren't particularly clean, so there's really no public purpose to including them that I can see.

However, paid access (Lexus Lane) just chaps my hide completely.
Yes, but wouldn't have made more sense to do something like:
Green stickers will not be renewed, the program is terminated and plug-in hybrids no longer qualify for the carpool lanes.
White stickers will be honored for x number of years, then be phased out, but no additional white stickers will be issued.
Red stickers will be valid for 5 years from when received and print on the Red stickers large numbers that indicate the expiration year.
 
cmwade77 said:
Umm, where do you live that gas prices are low? I can't get gas anywhere near me for less than $3.00 a gallon, I do not call that low by any standard.

$3.00/gallon is expensive by US standards today, but again isn't exactly dissuading some Californians from buying bro-dozers. Even in this state, with rare exceptions like the Prius, smaller high-MPG cars don't sell as well as larger and more thirsty models. GM and Ford sell far more light duty pickups than compacts. Ford just discontinued the Fiesta here in the US because sales just don't support continuing to sell it here. Even Toyota sells more Camrys than Corollas year after year.

And it's low compared to what we were paying 10 years ago, when some gas stations had $5+/gallon pricing. According to https://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/12/driving-costs-the-same-as-it-did-in-the-50s.html, gasoline in 1956 was an average of 30 cents/gallon. That's worth $2.77 in today's money....California is more expensive, but not that much more expensive. A quick Google search shows the average price right now is around $2.53 for regular. So as a country, we're paying less than we did 62 years ago.

And remember that's an average of the entire country. When some parts of Oregon finally got self-serve gas, a popular meme being distributed shows a clip from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" of a gas station exploding; the prices that were posted were in the mid 30 cent range. The scene was filmed in Marin County, so that's likely what prices were in that area at that time.
 
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