Dear ABC News Fixer: Getting Through DMV's Green Tape
Oct. 22, 2013 — -- Dear ABC News Fixer: I purchased a Chevy Spark EV – an all-electric car -- but I have been waiting for more than seven weeks for my stickers to be able to drive in the HOV lanes in California, normally used by carpoolers.
Besides the wonderful advantages of driving a car which never needs to fill up at a gas station and doesn't add smog to our environment, a major reason I purchased this vehicle was to be able to drive in the HOV lane. That will cut my commute in half.
Can you help?
- Arthur Hermann, Martinez, Calif.
Dear Arthur: The ABC News Fixer was all ready to slash through some red tape at the California Department of Motor Vehicles when we found out they never even received your application at all. You then checked your bank account, and indeed, your $8 check for the stickers was never cashed.
Rather than try to pluck your application out of the black hole into which it had clearly fallen, we found you the name of a nice woman at the DMV. You mailed another application and a new check directly to her, and she made sure your stickers got sent out the day the application was received. (They told us it normally takes less than two weeks to process an application.)
We also heard some more good news about California's sticker program: the white sticker program, for all-electric vehicles like yours, and the green sticker program, which is available for 40,000 qualifying plug-in hybrid vehicles, were both recently extended to Jan. 1, 2019. So you'll be able to zip along in those HOV lanes for quite some time.
Californians -- For more info about how the program works and which vehicles qualify, click here.
- The ABC News Fixer
Got a consumer problem? The ABC News Fixer may be able to help. Click here to submit your problem online. Letters are edited for length and clarity.
