Should we delay smog checks because of coronavirus?
Q. During the coronavirus pandemic we are ordered to stay in our homes except to get essential needs, such as food and medical care. Yet the Department of Motor Vehicles is still requiring smog checks for registration renewals. I don’t see how that is an essential service right now. I went to the DMV website to renew and indeed it requires a smog check. I called a local smog-check site and it is open. Has the DMV considered this issue?
– Patrice Russell, Laguna Hills
A. Yes.
First off, the state hasn’t shut down smog-check facilities.
“Smog check stations are registered automotive-repair dealers and would fall into the essential ‘automotive repair and maintenance’ category,” Matt Woodcheke, a spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, told Honk.
But, Woodcheke added, a local government might have its own directive. So a city or county could have a conflicting viewpoint.
Honk suggests just waiting it out – we all face bigger problems during this pandemic than a registration tag that is outdated a bit.
Further, on March 16, the DMV asked police officers in a statement “to exercise discretion for 60 days in their enforcement of driver license and vehicle registration expiration dates.”
Honk likes to believe that most cops are fair-minded, dandy folk and wouldn’t cite you for being late to add a new registration tag to your plate if the pandemic played into that lateness.
Now, if someone was tooling about on a registration that is delinquent by six months, well, Honk bets the ol’ citation book is coming out.
The state’s Bureau of Automotive Repair – which regulates the smog-check industry – suggests that if you can’t get a vehicle smog-tested now because of a pandemic-related order or directive, go ahead and complete everything else with the registration, including paying the fee.
With the DMV’s offices closed, you can do so at dmv.ca.gov.
When the coast is clear, get that smog check, which the business can likely just transmit straight to the DMV.
Q. Can people use a carpool lane that is marked for three or more people if they have two people in a car that only has two seats, such as a Corvette?
– Richard Steingraber, Anaheim
A. Not in Southern California.
The mindset is that the carpool lane is to move a lot of people, so your ride’s capacity isn’t the focus.
“There are a few exceptions to this law,” said Gina Jojola, an officer and spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol in the East Los Angeles Area station house, which patrols the El Monte Busway. “But so far a two-seater Corvette has not been written into law as an additional exception.”
The El Monte Busway, an 11-mile stretch from El Monte to downtown Los Angeles along the 10 Freeway, does offer vehicles free passage to bypass congestion if they hold three or more occupants.
You can hop into the Busway in a ‘Vette, Richard, but you would have to pay the toll.
It is free most of the time with three occupants on the 91 Express Lanes, too, but a two-seater doesn’t get a break there, either.
Only in the San Francisco Bay area, according to Caltrans, are vehicles designed for only two occupants allowed for some reason in the three-plus carpool lanes, so long as both seats are filled.
Honkin’ fact: Signs went up last month proclaiming a five-mile stretch of the 215 Freeway in San Bernardino County near the 15 Freeway interchange as “Cesar Chavez Memorial Highway,” said Shane Massoud, a Caltrans spokesman.
The Chicano Latino Caucus of San Bernardino County picked up the $4,517.23 tab to honor the late activist who used nonviolent ways to boost the conditions of farm workers.
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.