California Hybrid Automobile Watch: Sticker Shock
Mitchell Rose holds the yellow stickers that hybrid owners must use to access carpool lanes. The decals, which are 7 by 3 inches and 5 by 2 inches in size, go on panels behind the rear wheels and on the bumpers.
So, you wanted to buy a hybrid to drive in a California HOV lane?
The Los Angeles Times has Sticker Shock for Owners of Hybrids.
They’re big. They’re ugly. They’re offensive. So say owners of the hybrid Toyota Prius — not about larger gas-guzzlers that hog the road but about the decals the state is handing out that allow hybrid owners to drive solo in carpool lanes.
Prius owners cheered when Congress approved solo driving in carpool lanes last month.
But a growing number of drivers are now protesting because the California Highway Patrol is requiring that four bright yellow decals — 7 by 3 inches and 5 by 2 inches in size — be displayed on their cars.
YAWN!
Patterico has Hybrid Owners = Whiners.
Technorati Tags: Hybrid Automobiles, California, carpool lanes, Toyota Prius
2 Comments
eLarson
Aren't hybrids better off when the braking action is used to regenerate electricity? If so, they should be kept OUT of the HOV lanes and in the bumper to bumper traffic where their efficiency starts to win. 🙂
christina
I saw a hybrid with those stickers the other day and the first thought that popped into my head was: “Damn those are huge, ugly stickers”. I don’t drive one, but if I did I’d be really bummed to ugly up my cute, environment saving sleek little tiny car with some big f-ing yellow stickers. How about a license plate sticker? A special license plate? How is it that proving that you’ve paid your registration is done with a two inch sticker and cops can (and do, believe me) pull you over by spotting the wrong color, but need four big ass yellow ones to see that you’re driving a hybrid (which conveniently looks like a spaceship)?