Fraudulent HOV Green sticker prius spotted

I noticed the car was parked in a handicapped space as well.
If the car did not have a proper parking permit (Blue tag hanging from rear view mirror) or disabled plates you could really make that persons day by flagging down a Fremont cop and having the car cited for illegal parking in a handicapped space.
When Jerry Brown became Governor a few years ago he raised the fine by .01 cent from $999.99 to an even $1000.00
By law in this state parking in or blocking access to a handicapped space by parking in the cross hatched area next to a handicapped space is a non-negotiable offense like getting caught in a carpool lane without a pass or driving solo. The judge has no discretion and cannot lower or excuse the fine.
You have to get a real cop to write the ticket though. Parking lot security types do not have the authority to do anything except call a real cop or parking violations officer to do the actual tagging and most will not do it.
I have only succeeded in getting this done two times, but it sure made my day both times. This kind of thing happens all the time.
I have a side mounted wheelchair lift on my minivan for my kid and we had come out into the parking lot to find some SOB squeezed into the crosshatched space intended to allow a side wheelchair lift to be used so close that he actually pushed my outside mirror out of position.
Here is a picture of one from last week that I didn't bother to call in. I had to move very close to the car on my left just to get enough clearance to lower the ramp and I still had to leave the rear of the van sticking out far enough to block traffic just to give my kid enough room to be able to drive his wheelchair onto the ramp and get loaded in the van.

 

... In a certain section of town, a person can be murdered in the middle of a big crowd, 50-100 people within a stone's throw, and police discover there were no witnesses. 'Nobody saw nut'in'.

No snitching.

A few who had the audacity to testify in court, were dead before dark.

I am absolutely appalled that you would extend your examples that far, with what appears to be at least partial approval. That culture is one of the reasons certain communities and neighborhoods (yes, Seattle too) continue to have horrid rates of violence.

Fortunately, this culture is not universal. I am heartened by the number of times when some drivers were seriously misconducting themselves on local highways, the 911 dispatch center received a double-digit number of calls reporting the errant vehicles before a crash occured.

 

I guess the advantage to chopping up the quote ending with,

means one can infer there somehow IS a declaration of RIGHT or wrong in a statement - when in fact the chopped quote states JUST an OBSERVATION. That allows a reader to totally miss the point. Please forgive me for not articulating in a simple enough fashion where the meaning could not possibly be misconstrued as saying something that wasn't even hinted at. I appreciate the notion that by covering the bases with, " `APPEARS' to be [] partial approval" you recognize one's subjective/misunderstood interpretation may be just that. IMO - indignance is hardly called for, over a statement that acknowledges the reader is experiencing a subjective (mis)understanding. At that junction, it's much less inflamitory to ask ... "hey .... is THIS what you meant"? It'd save getting ones shorts all bunched up over a statement never said. If you really need to hear me say, how horrible murder is, yes, it's horrible. Statements regarding wrong doing of ANY degree is not an indication of approval. No harm no foul. peace & love.
One last thing; I hope the zealous phone callers for HOV abusers are also calling in all the phone calling/ texting-while-driving people too - as they're causing fatalities on par with DUI drivers. Sticker cheaters are likely not killing people. Doesn't mean approval .... just sayin'

 

The photo you've shown is actually Safeway's fault if the space you've parked in is designated VAN ACCESSIBLE. For Van Accessible spaces, the buffer is supposed to be 8-feet wide - specifically to provide additional width to deploy a side ramp. The ratio of van accessible versus regular disabled spaces is specified by ADAAG, and local municipalities can sometimes have more stringent requirements.

 

I just registered to post this. Spotted on I15 Southbound in Rancho Cucamonga today.

 

BTW: These spaces were not marked Van Accessible but you are saying it is Safeway fault because the driver of the other vehicle decided to park intruding into the crosshatch areas?
Here I am in my PIP with another intruder by my side. I have the green stickers and disabled plates mounted on my PIP now:

Same place, different day. A lowered floor minivan backs into the space to off load a wheelchair.

This is the SCVMC parking garage. The area behind the parked vehicles is the entrance lane to the parking garage and has so much traffic a safety isle was established to allow wheelchairs access to the elevators. This only works if drivers of 4X4's don't see every concrete block as an obstacle they have to drive over.

At any rate, I didn't mean to hijack this thread to discuss parking violators so I won't make anymore comments except to note that I have never seen a counterfeit green sticker actively in a HOV lane, but I have seen lots of vehicles that did not belong there running there unmolested.

 

I saw one on the car pool lane - # 6WIM961 - 880 South - taking 237 Westbound ramp (which means he is saving 7 bucks a day as well).
I was not able to take a clear picture - have a hazy one.

How does one report fraudulent use ? How can this can be reported to relevant authorities ? Who is the relevant authority - DMV, CARB or CHP ?

I don't want to be a tattle tale - but every fraudulent use means one less legit HOV issued.

 

Christ, just call the local cops. Report a non handicapped vehicle in a handicapped spot. They love ticketing those toads even more than you calling them and reporting it. You could call 911, but it's not really an emergency.
Remember "Handicapped Parking" does not apply to "Mentally Handicapped" individuals!
In cal, if you see & smell a smoking hunk of junk on the Freeway, 1-800-cut-smog. The noted reciepient gets to have a smog test and then has to fix the vehicle before they will issue tags for the smoker! In 37 years of living in Los Angeles, there has been a dramatic reduction in Highway Smokers, I use speed dial!

 

You are not getting the point.

I want to know how to report fraudulent use of HOV (Green Carpool ) decals - I know what to do for handicap parking ?

 

It is Safeway's fault if they failed to provide any designated Van Accessible spaces that satisfy the requirements. It is the driver's fault for encroaching into the crosshatch areas.

Regarding your photos:

For the Pontiac and the Toyota Previa, it's the parking lot's fault for not clearly designating the adjacent area for no parking (with crosshatching, NO PARKING stencils, ,etc.). That said, the parking lot may not be required to prohibit parking there at all, since it appears that there's already a cross hatch area to the left of the disabled spaces and possibly an accessible path of travel. Your photos don't provide sufficient info for that determination.

For the F-150, the access aisle to the elevators is an ADA requirement. A compliant accessible path of travel is such that the disabled person is not directed to travel behind a vehicle other than their own (because someone in a wheelchair can't be seen when a F-150 is backing out). Hence, the access aisle is provided in front and theoretically kept clear using wheel blocks. In this case, the F-150 and other vehicles drove over the wheel block and blocked the access aisle, and ALL should be cited even if they're displaying placards or disabled license plates - especially in this case given:

1) This is Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, and you'd expect the parking operator and hospital to be especially cognizant of disabled access needs.
2) The F-150 that receives this expensive ticket should (theoretically) be willing to accept that ticket, being cognizant of their own disabilities - assuming of course that the disabled placard was being legitimately used.

 

You can report HOV Lane violators to the CHP at their non-emergency number: 1-800-TELL-CHP. If it involves the display of a green sticker on an ineligible vehicle, let them know. If they don't have an officer available in the area at the moment, maybe they can generate a warning letter to the RO of the vehicle or notify the DMV to investigate and recall the sticker.
As the driver of vehicles with handicapped plates for my wife's needs, it irritates me when ignorant/arrogant people park illegally or otherwise infringe on the handicapped spaces and the adjacent, hash marked "no parking" areas in between. Fortunately, she doesn't need a wheel chair. Our son is in law enforcement, and he will cite for these violations, something he was doing years before his mom ever needed the privilege.

 

I tried 1-800-TELL-CHP - completely unhelpful, asked me which city this happened, I said Fremont, Transferred me to Golden Gate CHP or something phone system, which took my down a decision tree, where none of the options were appropriate.

CHP does not even have a contact us button to send general information.

This is harder than I thought.

 

If you are really serious, snap a pic, either, go, email, snail mail, or some how get the photo to CHP, note what Freeway, how often you see it, time of day. It's not really that hard to do!

 

Sorry, manish, that was the info I have seen over the years in CHP public announcements, although not specific to HOV violations. I haven't tried it, so I should have included that disclaimer.
I used to report smoking vehicles as another poster described, and that was just a matter of leaving a voicemail message with the pertinent info. I rarely see smoking vehicles now, I guess because the older cars are gradually dying and being scrapped.

 

Just saw my first cheater: a white Gen 2 Prius traveling north on Indian Hill in Claremont, CA. I wanted to snap a picture but he made a sudden left and I wasn't going to bother chasing just to photo.

This one had a beat-up green sticker on the lower right bumper, but of course no other stickers. Guessing it was lifted from a plug-in.

 

Ha! I've seen this car a few times.

 

Saw my first one today, but didn't have time to take a picture, as it passed me as I pulled into a left turn pocket. As unbelievable as it sounds, it was a dark grey Gen II in less than pristine condition. At a quick glance and some distance, the sticker looked as though it might be damaged. For anyone in my neck of the woods, this was on Madera Rd near Wood Ranch in Simi. I will be keeping an eye out, and am going to check my dash cam to see if I can get a plate or a photo I can post.
Update- dash cam got the car, but the noontime sun was reflecting off the windshield, blocking the plate and making the sticker very hard to see.

 

Another One spotted in Fremont, CA

 

I don't imagine the CHP would have the knowledge to discern subtleties between Prius models. Too bad, I can see this proliferating quite easily.

 

I was in Santa Clara last week and saw a fraudulent HOV Prius drive by. It was a red Gen3 Prius... that's not even a color the PiP comes in!