Q: Has California dropped the smog test requirement to renew vehicle registration? I have a 2016 Subaru Outback, purchased new, and just registered it through March 2023. I have not yet been required to get a smog test to renew the registration.
John Unger
A: Smog inspections are required when registering a vehicle in California, but there are exceptions. One is if the vehicle is gas-powered and less than eight model-years old. Other exceptions can be found at www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/smog-inspections. For your 2016 Subaru, a smog test is not required until next year, at the earliest.
Q: I saw a BMW 530e with Washington state plates and red California carpool stickers. How is it even possible to pull this off?
Bob Szilasie, Gilroy
A: While we don’t know the specifics involving this particular vehicle, proof of current California registration is required for a Clean Air Vehicle (CAV) decal to be issued.
The color of the stickers issued changes each year; stickers are valid for a five-year period. The red decal was issued in 2018 and expired on Jan. 1, 2022. It is possible that the vehicle was issued California CAV decals prior to being registered in Washington and the owner did not remove them.
Q: I remember Bayshore before it was a freeway. There was always traffic jam at that time in Sunnyvale near the newly opened Lockheed. I remember people complaining about Lockheed engineers and their obliviousness to their surroundings even back then.
To get to our San Jose house from my folks’ restaurant in the Big Richfield Truck complex in Sunnyvale — on the east side of Bayshore, just south of Highway 237 — my dad had to make a left turn from Bayshore onto McKee Road. It was terrifying to have to cross oncoming traffic to make that turn.
So in my memory, spanning over 60 years, I can never remember when traffic was not an issue.
Roberta Schultz
A: Some problems never go away.
Q: Watching the NFL football playoffs, I keep seeing an ad for GMC Sierra showing off their “hands free” driving feature. Everyone in the vehicle, including the smiling driver, is clapping in sync to the music. Tesla gets beat up for promoting its driver assistance features, even though it consistently emphasizes that the driver must keep hands on the steering wheel, remaining ready at all times to take control of the vehicle.
How is it that ads like this can show off how there’s no need to keep both hands on the wheel? Isn’t this sending conflicting messages to the driving public?
Bruce Farly, Los Gatos
A: I agree. And, by the way, go Niners.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow, or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Source: www.mercurynews.com