Teh One Who Knocks
09-18-2018, 10:46 AM
By Benjamin Brown | Fox News
http://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2460/XbNNkn.jpg
It's not easy being green.
A measure passed by California’s state legislature last year is causing a bit of road rage, as more than 200,000 low- and zero-emission vehicles are set to lose their decals that allow them to drive in the car-pool lane without another passenger.
The decal program, which the state started back in 2012, was meant to boost the number of clean-air vehicles in California. Instead, it has congested the HOV lanes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, drivers who received the white and green clean-air stickers before 2017 will have to purchase a new vehicle to qualify. Drivers could obtain the decals if they buy a used car that did not previously have one and would have qualified under the previous program’s requirements, the paper reported.
A new income threshold will also eliminate certain drivers from participating in the program.
“Not being able to use the carpool lane will definitely affect my day-to-day,” Kitty Adams, a driver of a decaled 2002 electric Toyota RAV4,told the paper.
Critics argue that the focus should be on clamping down on drivers who illegally use the lane without a sticker or passenger, which represents one out of every four vehicles, the paper reported citing data from Caltrans.
“There needs to be a message that the CHP is taking enforcement seriously,” Dave Moreno, who is set to lose his stickers, told the Times. “I’m honestly not seeing it.”
A California Highway Patrol officer told the paper law enforcement is doing everything it can, but is stretched thin covering the 915 miles of freeways and highways in Los Angeles County.
http://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2460/XbNNkn.jpg
It's not easy being green.
A measure passed by California’s state legislature last year is causing a bit of road rage, as more than 200,000 low- and zero-emission vehicles are set to lose their decals that allow them to drive in the car-pool lane without another passenger.
The decal program, which the state started back in 2012, was meant to boost the number of clean-air vehicles in California. Instead, it has congested the HOV lanes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, drivers who received the white and green clean-air stickers before 2017 will have to purchase a new vehicle to qualify. Drivers could obtain the decals if they buy a used car that did not previously have one and would have qualified under the previous program’s requirements, the paper reported.
A new income threshold will also eliminate certain drivers from participating in the program.
“Not being able to use the carpool lane will definitely affect my day-to-day,” Kitty Adams, a driver of a decaled 2002 electric Toyota RAV4,told the paper.
Critics argue that the focus should be on clamping down on drivers who illegally use the lane without a sticker or passenger, which represents one out of every four vehicles, the paper reported citing data from Caltrans.
“There needs to be a message that the CHP is taking enforcement seriously,” Dave Moreno, who is set to lose his stickers, told the Times. “I’m honestly not seeing it.”
A California Highway Patrol officer told the paper law enforcement is doing everything it can, but is stretched thin covering the 915 miles of freeways and highways in Los Angeles County.