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California drivers: HOV sticker tips?
- Thread starter vapor trail
- Start date
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- Model S
Same here. I drive from Sac to Oakland every other day (if the Vacaville supercharger ever goes down I am hosed!) and I see cops all the time flagging people down, so I rarely if ever use the HOV lanes. I've been waiting for my carpool stickers for over two months now (you hear that CA?) and can't wait until their arrival.
I got mine last week, about a month after applying. I suggest that you give DMV a call as it appears that something has gone awry with your application.
Xminus6
Member
I drove in the HOV lanes for a couple months without the stickers. There are so many Teslas here that the cops recognize them immediately and don't pay attention to them in the HOV lane. Yes, they could pull you over and ticket you for sure, but that would require a lot more effort. They usually see the car from the front first. If they see it's a Tesla, they just mentally give you a pass and move on. They'd have to really want to hassle you to wait for you to pass, check your rear bumper, then pull you over for a ticket. There are plenty of real HOV offenders to catch.
Never will I put a stupid sticker on my car. Never have been pulled over in the HOV lane. The expected value of that HOV ticket is the odds / day of getting a ticket in the lane * # days you drive * cost of the ticket. It's really freaking small folks. In return for bearing that tiny cost you don't have a big ugly sticker on your bumper.
DJ 240V
Member
Probably why fines should be a % if your income beyond the base $
SDRick
Active Member
Motorcycles do not need stickers. Why? Because it is obvious to the Highway Patrol! They are motorcycles and exempt. Same thing for Tesla's. It's obvious.
Fine? No, just another example of unneeded or poorly executed regulation.
I've had the stickers on my car sincerely I got them. However I did use the HOV lanes before I received them (took 3 weeks). I see people pulled off the HOV lanes almost everyday, especially on the 680 around the Sunol grade. But I've never seen a Tesla pulled over. Most of them do have stickers though, and the rest seem too new (don't even have their license plates yet).
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
It may be more about showing non stickered cars that you are appropriate. A lot of folks would not know a Tesla if they saw one let alone know why it is allowed in the HOV lane. This way it quells some of the angry folks out their being passed thinking you are just cheating and maybe they should too.
joebiker25
Member
Yup!
I just put the smallest sticker at the bottom rear of the car and that is it. I am not putting any stickers on the sides!
SDRick
Active Member
I did the same, placing the smallest of the stickers as low as possible on the rear bumper. I also used the plastic film hack that allows me to easily remove the sticker.
Just in case, I keep the two larger stickers in my glovebox.
NikeWings
Active Member
Same here.....small sticker only.
Edit: In fact, I got the plastic idea right here, from you SDRick.
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rfmurphy81
Member
For those of us who do have the stickers on, I'm noticing one of them peeling off the side. I've placed them on the non-painted surface as low as possible. Is it as simple as pulling the offending sticker off, then applying a small batch of adhesive from a home supply store and reapplying? Should I just use a small clear film to put over the sticker? Any specific product recommendations or other suggestions?
C_A_Braun
Meet "Voodoo", Our S75 & "Solo Cup", Our Model 3
I have logged 1000's of miles in HOV lanes for 20+ years with 99% of those being all by myself in ICE, Hybrids that do not qualify for stickers and now in my stickerless EV. I was even one time involved in an accident with an LAPD car in the HOV lane that CHP investigated along with LAPD trafffic cops. Not once have I ever felt threatened that I would be ticketed for doing so. You gotta be doing something really stupid for CHP to pull you over for a HOV lane violation such as bouncing in and out at 90MPH over the double yellows etc. For the most part for the past several years, in So Cal there has really been no advantage to the HOV lane even for scofflaws such as myself as the HOV lanes often move as slow or slower than the other lanes.
