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Q: Dear Honk: I, like many others, have moved to a neighboring state but I still live in Southern California part time. I procured a driver’s license there since that is now my legal residence, but I recently received a renewal notice from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. I’m pretty sure that I can’t carry a license in two states, but what about a California ID? It would be nice to have when I have to show my ID here for medical appointments and the like.
– Paul Purkhiser, Covina
A: Probably because you have read Honk for years, Paul, you know what’s cookin.’
“You can get a state ID (from California),” Chris Orrock, a DMV spokesman up in Sacramento, told Honk. “You can only have a driver’s license in one state at a time.”
So don’t renew that California license, but switch gears and get that state-issued ID here from the DMV.
Orrock recommended that you use your more permanent, out-of-state address on your California ID.
Q: Hi Honk: Had my car smog checked today. Same low number it’s been consistently for 20 years. To keep it simple, let’s say, relatively speaking, my smog reading was a 3 on a scale of 100, where it takes a reading of greater than 100 to FAIL. How about no smog checks for cars with a consistently low smog reading? Then, millions of drivers with consistently low-smog cars like mine could avoid wasting an hour getting smog checked needlessly. I would even be OK having the $40 smog check fee I paid simply added to the cost of my plate renewal. A win-win for drivers, the state and climate.
– Mike Jasiewicz, Laguna Niguel
A. Well, if your aging car can hold on for a decade or more, and a bill backed by Jay Leno eventually passes, Mike, you might be in luck.
Under California law, there are some exemptions for smog checks, including for vehicles with a model year of 1975 or older.
But the car-crazed comedian and others want the state to loosen up.
A Senate bill, with the nickname “Leno’s Law,” would exempt at least some vehicles that are at least 35 years old. As you can imagine, Mike, this one wouldn’t be a slam dunk through the Legislature, based on its past actions.
Supporters counter that few cars would be affected, they tend to not run up many miles on the road, and such a law would help collectors and protect California’s car culture.
Twenty or so years ago, there was a rolling exemption — vehicles older than 30 were given a pass.
But state lawmakers didn’t like that, concerned that older vehicles belched more than an over-eater on Thanksgiving, and locked in the date.
That of course, means there are fewer and fewer of these exempted cars and trucks each year.
HONKIN’ FACT: Among the vessels gliding into the Port of Los Angeles for this weekend’s LA Fleet Week is the U.S. Coast Guard’s Barque Eagle, a tall sailing ship with three masts that is 295 feet long. Built in 1936, it was in the German Navy, but the United States took possession of it following World War II. Since 1946, the Coast Guard has trained future officers on it.
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
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