Q. My husband and I each had to renew our driver’s licenses this past summer. He took a written test, and I took the test on one of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ computers. We both passed our tests, with each of us having a wrong answer on a couple of questions. He was not given his paper test to see what he answered incorrectly, nor did I get a chance to see where I had wrong answers. He didn’t ask for it; he thought it would be offered to him like in the past. I did ask about my test answers and was told the results were not available. Why doesn’t the DMV provide its customers with the correct answers so that we can drive accordingly?
– Betty Ancewicz, Granada Hills
A. If asked, the DMV will likely provide you the goods.
At a DMV office after taking the test on paper, you can ask the clerk about the ones you missed and in most cases should get told the questions and what pages in the Driver’s Handbook the answers can be found on, said Chris Orrock, a DMV spokesman at the agency’s Sacramento headquarters.
If the clerk refuses to help, politely ask for a supervisor.
On a computer there at the DMV office, at the end of the test you will be told the same thing on the screen – the missed questions and the pages that hold the answers.
“However, customers may not retain any (test) documentation containing test answers,” said another DMV spokesperson, Kat Snow.
The reason, of course, is to thwart cheating.
Remember, most people tapped to take the knowledge test –commonly called the written test – can instead take the eLearning route online, which you can’t fail – unless you don’t complete it in a year.
Q. I have a sticker transponder on the windshield and an adjustable transponder, both from a different agency than the one that manages the 405 Express Lanes, where I had a small problem. On Jan. 26, during a non-peak hour, the sensors read the adjustable transponder on the dash. No toll was charged, as we were a carpool. Next day, the same scenario except going the other way and we were charged $3. I called the customer-service line for the tollway where I got my transponders and was politely told that it cannot reverse a transponder charge. I explained that I read somewhere (perhaps in your column) that the sensors would pick up an adjustable transponder signal and override the sticker signal. That worked going north, but not south. The customer-service person was sympathetic, but could not make any adjustment. I think the 405’s southbound sensors need to be adjusted. Perhaps your other readers have encountered this same issue – $3 is not a big deal, but …
– Scott Simon, Laguna Niguel
A. Yes, Honk did say the adjustable transponder – called the FasTrak Flex – should win out.
He asked Megan Abba, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, whether similar problems have cropped up since the 405 Express Lanes opened up on Dec. 1.
“No, we are unaware of a problem similar to this,” she said.
For any dispute, Abba suggests first calling your home agency, the one you got your transponder(s) from. You did that, so she now recommends you call the agency with the tollway where the problem occurred. In this case, of course, the 405 Express Lanes: 562-740-4405.
If that agency agrees with you, it can push through a refund to the billing agency.
HONKIN’ FACT: One of the inventors of an America go-to for a quick breakfast, Bill Post, died on Feb. 10 at age 96. His Michigan license-plate number? “POPTART,” albeit the official name is “Pop-Tart,” a play on the pop art movement. The treat was first sold in 1964. (Source: The Washington Post and News Channel 3 out of Kalamazoo, Michigan).
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. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk
Source: Orange County Register
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