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Wagonman
Senior Member Member
174 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Oct 2003 : 13:52:31
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| The new ratings are out for 2004. The new Prius has improved to a 9. That's great! It is still not high enough to be truely SULEV outside CA. I notice that the 2.3L Focus is now also a 9, but the Honda hybrid still sucks and the one sold here only gets a 6. It's great that such a dirty car will continue to get a clean fuel plate while the owners of the clean Focus get shafted and don't receive a tax break or a clean fuel plate. The owners of the "9" rated Hyundai Elantra also get stiffed. Isn't it fantastic that we reward car companies with incentives for people to buy their cars when their cars don't measure up? |
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RoadRunner
Advanced Member
388 Posts |
Posted - 24 Oct 2003 : 14:32:36
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I'm sure everyone has seen the little 2-seater Honda Insight that's a hybrid zipping around. Well, yesterday I saw one in the regular lanes WITHOUT the CF at the end of the license plate--it was just an ordinary Virginia license plate! So, can someone explain?
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Wagonman
Senior Member Member
174 Posts |
Posted - 24 Oct 2003 : 16:48:46
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by RoadRunner[/i]
[br]I'm sure everyone has seen the little 2-seater Honda Insight that's a hybrid zipping around. Well, yesterday I saw one in the regular lanes WITHOUT the CF at the end of the license plate--it was just an ordinary Virginia license plate! So, can someone explain?
They were too cheap to bother getting the clean fuel plates? Or they don't really travel in HOV areas? The plates cost extra and aren't automatically given to any clean fuel eligible car. You have to order them from DMV and pay an extra $10 a year. Another possibility is that the car belongs to a company. I think the vehicle has to be private use only to get the clean fuel tags.
Or maybe they realized they don't deserve the clean fuel plates and decided to make a statement? |
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MDC
Moderator
631 Posts |
Posted - 24 Oct 2003 : 19:56:42
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Originally posted by RoadRunner--
I'm sure everyone has seen the little 2-seater Honda Insight that's a hybrid zipping around. Well, yesterday I saw one in the regular lanes WITHOUT the CF at the end of the license plate--it was just an ordinary Virginia license plate! So, can someone explain?
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It's not the CF, it's the logo on the left and the bottom that says clean special fuel. They can be personalized and not have the CF at the end. There are some people driving hybrids solo without the special plates though in HOV, which is not permitted. This is explained in detail on the DMV website.
Today I saw one that had a paper sign taped to her rear window that said "this car is permitted to drive in HOV with one occupant", or something to that effect. I even slowed down to look at it again. Obviously she's never gotten a ticket, or would know otherwise. Evidence that you could stick a "hybrid" sticker on your car and not worry about the law??? |
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MDC
Moderator
631 Posts |
Posted - 24 Oct 2003 : 19:58:18
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| The Honda Insight that came to mind is the one with Alaska plates that I've seen many times... It's not legal for him to drive HOV solo either. |
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tlschau
Senior Member Member
153 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2003 : 09:26:40
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| I saw a Honda Hybrid today without the CF plate, it was a Virginia tag and it was not personalized. |
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GeeseAreGood
Average Member
63 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2003 : 12:13:46
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OK, then we should all make a sign for any car we have that says "It is legal for this car to drive in HOV with one occupant". If you get pulled over, show the officer the sign. If he gives you a ticket, then show the sign to the Judge and explain that if you have a sign, then they can not ticket you. Sign sign, everywhere a sign.
******************************************************************
Today I saw one that had a paper sign taped to her rear window that said "this car is permitted to drive in HOV with one occupant", or something to that effect. I even slowed down to look at it again. Obviously she's never gotten a ticket, or would know otherwise. Evidence that you could stick a "hybrid" sticker on your car and not worry about the law??? |
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laser
Starting Member
1 Posts |
Posted - 28 Oct 2003 : 08:17:44
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| What's next after Hybrid? The congestion in the HOV lanes are not brought upon by the Hybrid vehicles but by those crazy drivers that think they own the road and gets into an accident. The only time there is a congestion in the HOV lanes is when there is an accident so please stop complaining and blaming the CF cars for the congestions. When you can actually prove that there are more CF cars than HOV bandits in the HOV lanes, then and only then you should suggest to take the CF cars out of the HOV lanes. |
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MDC
Moderator
631 Posts |
Posted - 28 Oct 2003 : 12:27:19
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laser,
Just my opinion, but it seems that cars without passengers drive much more reckless than cars with passengers. This goes for "CF" ones too. If they had passengers, nobody would be complaining about their special plates. |
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fugitiveALiEN
New Member
10 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jun 2004 : 16:08:06
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The original overriding reason for "HOV" lanes wasn't to solely get cars off the road, but rather releive the environment, and because of the gas issue. Sections of 395 were hov*4* originally because of the emphasis on saving the environment, it wasn't "mainly" congestion.
http://www.virginiadot.org/infoservice/vdot-historyofroads.asp
Take a look there and at the history of our roads. Page 30 of the document :
"The Department of Highways, like
most agencies, initiated fuel conservation
measures within its own organization.
Employees were encouraged to join car
pools for trips to work and were required
to join such pools for business trips. It was
decided to let roadside grass grow to 15
inches instead of 10 inches before mowing
and to adjust snow-removal standards by
eliminating plowing in subdivisions until
snow was at least six inches deep.
Motor oil was saved for reuse in diesel
engines and oil-fired furnaces. Oil changes
in state vehicles were made every 4,000
miles instead of every 3,000 miles. An
increased emphasis was placed on the use
of asphalt that had low petroleum content
and that required little heating before use.
But while the energy crisis produced
changes in operations, and sometimes
resulted in inconveniences, it also pointed
the way to improved traffic safety. During
the critical months of the fuel crisis in
Virginia, traffic on the state’s major highways
decreased for the first time since
World War II. The reduced speed limits
and travel were accompanied by longsought
reductions in accidents."
It's not just the one single reason to "get cars off the road" it began as conservation.
Additionally not all "hybrids" for example adhere to the SULEV ILEV or other EPA standards. As far as smog and greenhouse gas emissions it is decidedly lower on hybrids and even TDI (turbo-diesel) vehicles.
Maybe something like unless you adhere to the very stringent guidelines, will you only be allowed to drive HOV with only 1 occupant?
Here are some more numbers for the vehicles and their EPA numbers:
http://www.insightcentral.net/KB/compare/compare-honda-insight.html
As far as the plates issue goes, i was sure that when i purchased my hybrid i got the "Clean Special Fuel" plate and registration. I guess that other hybrid owners, and not all are using HOV, nor are all of them aware that they can, but they don't have the proper tags because it's an additional $10 for the "special" plate, and i also have a personalization on mine, ANOTHER $10. CF at the end is not the designation, nor is the new CX plate.
From VDOT:
http://virginiadot.org/comtravel/hov-rulesfaq.asp
"In order for a hybrid vehicle to use Virginia's HOV lanes, you must have Virginia clean special fuel license plates. This is the only way we have to monitor the use of these lanes when there is only one individual in a car. In order for Virginia to honor Maryland plates, we would need a reciprocal agreement between the two states, and no such agreement exists to our knowledge. "
Maybe people are registering these unknowingly that they are violating the rules and police aren't using time to enforce restrictions on people that are less of a violation than actual single occupant violators, either way, enforcing hov2 and 3 is not an easy task. Time for some big brother cams 
PS:I'm not sure the numbers are correct on the 10,000+ "CF" plates. There are still the improperly registered hybrids, and people who have upgraded to vanity plates their old tags i believe are unable to be used for some time. Not sure how DMV/VA/County Government works all of that. |
Edited by - fugitiveALiEN on 24 Jun 2004 16:18:11 |
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Wagonman
Senior Member Member
174 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2004 : 00:29:42
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by fugitiveALiEN[/i]
[br]
Take a look there and at the history of our roads. Page 30 of the document :
"The Department of Highways, like
most agencies, initiated fuel conservation
measures within its own organization.
EMPLOYEES were encouraged to join car
pools for trips to work and were required
to join such pools for business trips. It was
decided to let roadside grass grow to 15
inches instead of 10 inches before mowing
and to adjust snow-removal standards by
eliminating plowing in subdivisions until
snow was at least six inches deep.
Motor oil was saved for reuse in diesel
engines and oil-fired furnaces. Oil changes
in state vehicles were made every 4,000
miles instead of every 3,000 miles. An
increased emphasis was placed on the use
of asphalt that had low petroleum content
and that required little heating before use.
But while the energy crisis produced
changes in operations, and sometimes
resulted in inconveniences, it also pointed
the way to improved traffic safety. During
the critical months of the fuel crisis in
Virginia, traffic on the state’s major highways
decreased for the first time since
World War II. The reduced speed limits
and travel were accompanied by longsought
reductions in accidents."
It's not just the one single reason to "get cars off the road" it began as conservation.
Uh, that quote is talking about the VDOTs employees carpooling and other measures that VDOT did within the agency. It has nothing to do with the general public. It doesn't even mention the HOV lanes. Sorry, but I don't see how that quote is related to HOV lanes. The HOV lanes, at least on 395/95, were originally only for buses. To keep them out of the regular traffic(congestion) so they wouldn't be delayed. |
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fugitiveALiEN
New Member
10 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2004 : 11:00:05
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Yes the quote mentioned specifically the employees, being as they were supposed to be the examples they were the pioneers, it was still birthed during the energy crisis. There is still a lot more in the history document and other works.
quote:
[i]Originally posted by Wagonman[/i]
[br]quote:
[i]Originally posted by fugitiveALiEN[/i]
[br]
Take a look there and at the history of our roads. Page 30 of the document :
"...."
It's not just the one single reason to "get cars off the road" it began as conservation.
Uh, that quote is talking about the VDOTs employees carpooling and other measures that VDOT did within the agency. It has nothing to do with the general public. It doesn't even mention the HOV lanes. Sorry, but I don't see how that quote is related to HOV lanes. The HOV lanes, at least on 395/95, were originally only for buses. To keep them out of the regular traffic(congestion) so they wouldn't be delayed.
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Edited by - fugitiveALiEN on 25 Jun 2004 11:01:08 |
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krr
New Member
11 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2004 : 12:15:42
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Not true what you are say about "the only time there is congestion in HOV is where there is an accident." I always listent to WTOP and more times than not they announce that the back up in the HOV lanes is due to volumn and that no accident had occurred. Accidents in the HOV lanes are rare. Your statement is in error.
quote:
[i]Originally posted by laser[/i]
[br]What's next after Hybrid? The congestion in the HOV lanes are not brought upon by the Hybrid vehicles but by those crazy drivers that think they own the road and gets into an accident. The only time there is a congestion in the HOV lanes is when there is an accident so please stop complaining and blaming the CF cars for the congestions. When you can actually prove that there are more CF cars than HOV bandits in the HOV lanes, then and only then you should suggest to take the CF cars out of the HOV lanes.
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Rosebud
Junior Member
28 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2004 : 15:36:43
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There has been too much congestion as of late. Just this morning the traffic was backed up at the Horner entrance to 95 into the parking lot. There was no accident. What causes this? First, I believe that Hybrids are only partly to blame. My guess is that they are 10-15% of the traffic. There were a lot of cheaters this morning because of the earlier accident at Springfield. Has anyone noticed the construction and building of new houses in the past couple years. That has added to the congestion. The presence of Police actively looking for the cheats causes those with flexible necks to slow down, hitting their brakes and causing a chain reaction in back of them. But I think the biggest cause are those people that think they can shave a couple minutes off their commute if they drive like a bat out of hell and constantly switch lanes. If everyone would just take a deep breath and stay in the same lane, traffic would move more evenly and accidents would be reduced. The only probelm is we still have hybrids and cheaters. The only good thing about slow moving traffic is that I have been able to witness two HOV cheats get caught in the last week.
To the lady in the Green Prism this morning... ha ha ha ha |
Edited by - Rosebud on 25 Jun 2004 15:38:10 |
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slugbug
Average Member
61 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jun 2004 : 15:45:05
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ugg.....can't do the hybrid conversations any more...too much  |
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Topic |
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Hybrids - a threat to car-pooling?
