Autoblog

rip @ Jan 30th 2006 3:24PM

This law is awful. It sounds good but in reality is biased and of little worth.

For one thing, its deceptive. People think its for all hybrids. In reality its only for hybrids that get over 45mpg. Which means only 3 qualify: the Prius, Civic, and Insight. All the other hybrids are excluded. Why not include all hybrids? And why not incude ALL cars that get over 45mpg?

For another, like others have said, driving a Prius in the hov lane does very little to reduce smog. It helps but not as much as driving a gas civic with 3 people in it. 3 people in one car getting ~40mpg is a lot better for the environment than 1 person in a car getting ~50mpg.

This is nothing but a healdine grab by the politian that wrote the law. Its basically worthless.

California would be a lot better served outlawing 2-stroke leaf blowers. Or banning or severly restricting pre-emission vehicle usuage. Or upgrading the bus fleet so 1960's era busses are finally retired. And actually properly enforcing the laughable "California smog emissions" requirements and laws. Or requiring that people keep their car somewhat tuned... most other states require yearly inspections. California requires a smog check every 2 years, if at all. FYI, my car hasn't had any sort of inspection at all, for about 5 years, because its exempt. NO emissions check, or basic safety checks for that matter.

I keep my car in tune, but I really have no idea what its current emissions are. Neither does the state of California since they don't check it.