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So far we welcome the New 2011 Year with drier weather conditions. Hopefully, this La Nina predicted year will have sunny, dry and beautiful weekends for car shows all over the west coast, especially SoCal.
As with ringing in the New Year, we also ring in new taxes and new legislation for us motorists. As for California, we currently pay an overwhelming VLF (vehicle license fee) which exceeds $80 in some counties by combining 12 separate vehicle registration fees. This "Car Tax" was set at .65% of a vehicle’s assessed value from 2001 through 2009. In 2009, the VLF or "Car Tax" was increased to 1.15% which equates to hundreds of dollars in registration fees per driver. Californians now pay among the highest cost in the country to keep their vehicles registered. Hopefully, Californian drivers will not see any increases in their registration fees; and that the state would use them to only fund transportation and motorist-related services.
 Additionally, with all New Years, new motorist laws will take effect, such as these listed below for the state of California (please check your own state legislature to be current on your state’s motorist laws):
- SB 949 – Local Tickets – it is unlawful for local governments to ticket drivers who commit moving violations under municipal codes or other local regulations. Drivers must be cited under the state vehicle code section, which specifies the penalties. This new law ensures uniformity throughout the state.
- AB 2173 – Higher Fines – to fund emergency air-transportation services, this law raises the cost of a moving violation ticket by $4. This new surcharge will generate approximately $34 million per year and will remain in effect until January 1, 2016.
- AB 2567 – Cameras for Street Sweepers – Local agencies can use cameras on their street sweepers to photograph vehicles that are parked on streets during sweeper days. Agencies are required to make public announcements of the camera enforcement system 30 days in advance. Violators will be issued warnings within the 30 day grace period.
- SB 535 – Car Pool Lanes – allows solo drivers in hybrid vehicles with DMV-issued yellow carpool lane stickers to continue using the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes until July 2011. Additionally, certain plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles can use the HOV lanes from January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2015.
- AB 1601 – Drunk Drivers – on January 1, 2012 judges can revoke the driver’s license for up to 10 years of any person convicted of three or more DUIs in a 10 year period. (In 2008, there were 187,987 DUI convictions in CA, 9,164 of which were 3rd time offenders within a 10 year period.)
- AB 1952 – Motorcycle Instruction Permit – drivers younger than 21 years of age are required to successfully complete the motorcycle safety course administered by the CHP.
For more detailed information on the new laws, please visit  http://www.chp.ca.gov/pdf/media/10-40.pdf and also check out www.dmv.ca.gov for more DMV information and services.
-Kim Cross
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