Q. Hi Honk. During the construction of the tollway in the middle of the 91 freeway through Corona, there were markings on the eastbound lanes designating which lane to get into for the northbound or southbound I-15 transition. These were very helpful, and I have seen them in other states. However, for some reason once they finished construction, the lane markings were removed. Why? Do they plan on putting them back on the lanes? The posted, overhead signs are sometimes confusing if you can’t tell exactly which lane the arrow is above.
Dave Mihalik, Lake Forest
A. Jocelyn Whitfield, a Caltrans spokeswoman for Riverside and San Bernardino counties, said such markings do exist out in that stretch you are referring to, Dave, in the 91 Express Lanes that now extend well into Riverside County. They are even in color, with the logo, or shield, of the freeway you are about to hop onto.
Whitfield said she talked with various Caltrans staffers who cover that stretch, and they weren’t aware of any such markings out there before the construction occurred, and they aren’t out there now, either.
Dave and Honk have had a number of chats, and Dave insisted he has never taken the Express Lanes, a tollway that runs along the 91’s median.
Honk’s readers are crazy accurate, so this is all a head-scratcher for him. He does know this: Those type of markings in the lanes are indeed fantastic.
Honk sometimes plays Gumby, bending his neck to see if an arrow on one of those overhead signs is indeed pointing to his lane. Recently, while maneuvering the Honkmobile through Phoenix, he was thankful for such lane markings, especially so far from his turf.
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Why does that driver have MEHONK on his plates?
Q. Hi Honk! My husband and I recently purchased a 55-year-old car. I thought of getting a personalized plate, and I was shocked to find out that the model name of our car was available for a plate sequence, without any creative spelling or additional numbers. It’s hard to believe that after all these years, no one had requested the plate. We’ve seen multiple plates with the same model name but with the car year or other variations. Can personalized plates expire and be re-released? Did we just luck into looking for this one at the right time?
Katherine Schiffelbein, San Juan Capistrano
A. “Yes, the department does re-issue license-plate sequences but only after prior records are purged,” Cristina Valdivia, a Department of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman, told Honk in an email.
“Personalized plates can … be re-issued if a prior owner is no longer actively using the plate. When a personalized plate is not in use but the owner wishes to retain the rights to that plate, they may need to pay an annual retention fee, depending on the type of personalized license plate.”
However, non-personalized plates, like the ones Honk and most others have to save a few bucks, are different.
With those, called sequential plates, a vehicle owner must find the original plates, which must be in good shape, at a swap meet or perhaps from a collector. Further, they must have been issued the year that the vehicle was manufactured.
That Year of Manufacture program allows historic vehicles to sport the same plates they had back in the day.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.
Source: Oc Register
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