HOV lane stickers and ideas to protect paint

[Prodigal Son]

The DMV should make a front license plate with hov access... It'll get all the California tesla owners to put front plates on..novel idea?

Not that novel, based on me posting it in the post directly in front of yours <3

 

[Ken Voss]

Not that novel, based on me posting it in the post directly in front of yours <3

Here is the issue. The CHP needs to see clearly see your HOV sticker from the side and back, that's why they are big, bright and prominently displayed on the rear bumper and the right rear quarter panel rear. Until there is an electronic way to read FastTrak I am afraid we are just stuck with big ugly stickers.

 

[smak]

I never understood why you would need one on the left rear quarter panel?

How would a CHP ever not see the other 2, and only see this one?

 

[Maevra]

I never understood why you would need one on the left rear quarter panel?

How would a CHP ever not see the other 2, and only see this one?

Some county road HOV lanes (ex. Lawrence Expressway in the Bay Area) are on the rightmost side of the road before they hit the freeway, so that's likely the use case.

 

[n0mad17]

For what it’s worth, I only put one of the smaller stickers in the lower right rear portion of my i3 and never had an issue.

 

[EvWannabe]

Took the DMV 7 weeks to cash my check. Submitted 3rd week of January. So I'm hoping to get the stickers in 1-2 weeks now. Also if you look at the CA DMV site, they now show red stickers as one option - I'm hoping the 2019 stickers won't be red!

I am also considering not applying until I get new ones in 2019.

I believe there will be a new color in 2019 because all the green and white stickers from before 2017 won't be eligible anymore. And therefore the police will need a new color sticker to figure out who's legal and who's not.

 

[Maevra]

I'm hoping the 2019 stickers won't be red!

Nuts, shoulda gone with the red paint if this is the case so it blends better.

 

[Maevra]

Took the DMV 7 weeks to cash my check. Submitted 3rd week of January. So I'm hoping to get the stickers in 1-2 weeks now. Also if you look at the CA DMV site, they now show red stickers as one option - I'm hoping the 2019 stickers won't be red!

I am also considering not applying until I get new ones in 2019.

I believe there will be a new color in 2019 because all the green and white stickers from before 2017 won't be eligible anymore. And therefore the police will need a new color sticker to figure out who's legal and who's not.

If I read the info correctly (so many acronyms!) looks like your fear is confirmed, the new sticker is red. Adding a photo for anyone curious what the red looks like.

 

[msjulie]

yeah so on a red car, that's not awesome for visibility but less ugly for me

I agree they should get with the program and have the lic plate itself be the key.. or at least a sticker on it...

 

[Larry Goldfield]

I'm not thrilled about the [redacted] stickers, but I'd put on a [redacted] sticker that says "THE DRIVER SMELLS [redacted]" if it meant spending less time in [redacted] bay area traffic.

That said, I will be sticking on custom-cut Xpel and then affixing the stickers to that. I've seen how hard those things are to remove once they expire.

[moderator edits: we do attempt to keep the forum family-friendly. Please keep that in mind when posting]

The problem is when you put them over Xpel cut outs, they are easily stolen.

 

[PandaM3]

I just mailed my check for stickers a few days ago. I paid for certified mail + return receipt... hopefully this forces the DMV to process things faster... if it doesn’t oh well it was only an extra $6 ish dollars.

I plan to put it on PPF as well. However I probably won’t install the front sticker since my bumper already has PPF. Me thinks that PPF stuck to PPF will ruin the bottom PPF if you ever remove it.

 

[Maevra]

The problem is when you put them over Xpel cut outs, they are easily stolen.

CA DMV does not ask for proof of damage/loss when processing replacements, so I'd rather they be cleanly removed rather than partially peeled off and leaving residue/damaged paint.

 

[PandaM3]

CA DMV does not ask for proof of damage/loss when processing replacements, so I'd rather they be cleanly removed rather than partially peeled off and leaving residue/damaged paint.

I guess if one is really worried about stolen stickers... can file for replacement once a month for a few months and hoard them... and install if the current ones ever do get stolen.

 

[Maevra]

I guess if one is really worried about stolen stickers... can file for replacement once a month for a few months and hoard them... and install if the current ones ever do get stolen.

Problem is if you are given new replacement stickers, the old ones are voided, so you have to replace them with the new ones anyway or risk being cited for not driving with the most current stickers assigned to your account.

ETA: I guess you could remove one decal and tell the DMV you applied for and are waiting for your replacement stickers to arrive and just hoard them at home, but this just seems like a (very unscrupulous) solution looking for a problem.

 

[PandaM3]

Problem is if you are given new replacement stickers, the old ones are voided, so you have to replace them with the new ones anyway or risk being cited for not driving with the most current stickers assigned to your account.

ETA: I guess you could remove one decal and tell the DMV you applied for and are waiting for your replacement stickers to arrive and just hoard them at home, but this just seems like a (very unscrupulous) solution looking for a problem.

I probably won’t worry about stolen stickers so I know I won’t be hoarding them.

However when I first got my Chevy Spark EV from the dealership... the finance guy just pulled a set of HOV stickers out from a drawer full of stickers and handed them to me. I don’t think the numbers ever matched the car. On top of that I think the paperwork they turned in to match the vin didn’t match the stickers either.

Also if pulled over I’m sure the officer will just look at the paperwork rather than bend down to read the tiny numbers on the side of a busy road and risk getting hit or ran over.

 

[Zippo]

The problem is when you put them over Xpel cut outs, they are easily stolen.

....i'll take the risk. Highly unlikely someone will steal them. And if they do, it's easy to get new ones.

 

[smak]

The problem is when you put them over Xpel cut outs, they are easily stolen.

The problem in stealing a red sticker is you also have to park places with it, and when a cop, or even anybody sees a red sticker on a Honda Accord, they know it's stolen.

And since anybody with a real BEV can just go pay for one themselves, I don't see why they would need to steal.

 

[Larry Goldfield]

The problem in stealing a red sticker is you also have to park places with it, and when a cop, or even anybody sees a red sticker on a Honda Accord, they know it's stolen.

And since anybody with a real BEV can just go pay for one themselves, I don't see why they would need to steal.

I could be wrong, but I think there might be a lot of hybrids out there such as Prius's that don't all have HOV stickers. Don't some of the later models have to be in some kind of lottery?

 

[Maevra]

I could be wrong, but I think there might be a lot of hybrids out there such as Prius's that don't all have HOV stickers. Don't some of the later models have to be in some kind of lottery?

Since March 2018 we only have the red stickers now which apply to all eligible vehicles (ZEV, PZEV, etc.), though that list is a much smaller pool than when we had the white, green and yellow stickers. So actually.. hmm.. maybe it would be easier to steal a new red sticker and slap in on a Prius than an old white one because Prius could only have the yellow or green stickers.

But in any case I don't think the CHP would really be very picky, they're likely just looking for whether the car has a sticker and don't really care what color. They'll have a much easier time going after a regular ICE-driver illegally in the HOV lane than quibble about the cars that do have them.

 

[Prodigal Son]

Since March 2018 we only have the red stickers now which apply to all eligible vehicles (ZEV, PZEV, etc.), though that list is a much smaller pool than when we had the white, green and yellow stickers. So actually.. hmm.. maybe it would be easier to steal a new red sticker and slap in on a Prius than an old white one because Prius could only have the yellow or green stickers.

But in any case I don't think the CHP would really be very picky, they're likely just looking for whether the car has a sticker and don't really care what color. They'll have a much easier time going after a regular ICE-driver illegally in the HOV lane than quibble about the cars that do have them.

Of course it'd have to be the day of the Sneebloot celestial alignment and the four horsemen of the apocalypse before the CHP would actually enforce the danged HOV laws…