Latest news with #DepartmentofMotorVehicles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
California EV drivers could lose their carpool lane privileges in September
For the last two decades, more than a million motorists who have slapped "clean air vehicle" decals on their electric and hybrid cars have been free to cruise in carpool lanes with no passengers. But that perk could be coming to an end on Sept. 30 if Congress fails to extend California's Clean Air Vehicle Decal program. "Clean Air Vehicle Decals are a smart, cost-effective incentive that has played an important role driving the adoption of clean and zero-emission vehicles in California," read a statement from Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board. "But thanks to the federal government's failure to act, this successful program is coming to an end." You can still apply for a decal by Aug. 29, but it will become invalid on Oct. 2, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Extending the decal program in California — or any other state — would require the approval of Congress and the signature of President Trump, said Bill Magavern, policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air. "I certainly would not bet on that," Magavern said. "It seems that the only deadline that this Congress responds to are the deadlines that are set by Trump, and I really don't see him going out of his way to extend this program." Why this state program needs congressional approval Federal legislation has allowed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant solo drivers in low-emission and energy-efficient cars to use the carpool, or High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV), lane. The goal was to promote the adoption of alternative-fuel vehicles and assist in meeting environmental goals that included reducing fuel consumption and pollution caused by congested freeways, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Over time, states developed incentive programs, choosing which car models to give carpool access to. "Clearly in the early days of zero-emission cars, the carpool lane stickers were an important incentive for some drivers, particularly in places like the Bay Area and Los Angeles where there is major congestion," Magavern said. California is one of 13 states that offer this type of incentive program to its residents. Qualified drivers in the Golden State include those who drive fuel cell electric, natural gas or plug-in electric cars. Whether the program is still a major incentive, "with electric vehicles topping 20% of new sales, I think is open to question," Magavern said. However, the electric car advocacy group Plug In America said the program has always been a factor in the minds of consumers. "Just like a lot of other incentives, the HOV lane access through the Clean Air Vehicle Program is one of those things that drivers look to to assess the overall package of what it's like to either go electric or to get that next electric vehicle," said Alexia Martineau, senior policy manager for Plug in America. Not renewing the program means that those drivers just have one less reason in the positive column for going electric, Martineau said. In 2023, California had nearly 1.3 million light-duty electric vehicle registrations and was the only state to report such a high number. Behind California was Florida, with roughly 255,000 registrations, and Texas, with roughly 230,000, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. (Neither Florida nor Texas offers an incentive program.) In 2015, Congress authorized California's program through a highway funding bill, but that authorization is expiring as of Sept. 30. What's being done to extend the life of clean air vehicle decals In an effort to extend the decal program, state Assemblymember Greg Wallis (R-Bermuda Dunes) authored Assembly Bill 2678, which would push the end date to Jan. 1, 2027. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year but is lacking federal approval. Without federal approval, the bill becomes moot. "Putting the brakes on this program means that starting October 1, 2025, CAV decals will no longer be valid in California, or elsewhere in the United States," the Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement. "All vehicles will be required to meet posted vehicle occupancy to travel in carpool lanes and pay required tolls or risk receiving a citation." According to the California Air Resources Board, there are currently 519,000 active decals in the state, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. What could this mean for the state's environmental goals? Without the program, drivers will lose access to the carpool lane, but Magavern said it should also mean less congestion in the HOV lanes. "Now that California has hundreds of thousands of zero-emission vehicles, they can take up a lot of space in the HOV lanes, and those were meant to incentivize people to carpool," he said. In addition to drivers losing access to carpool lanes, the change could slow the progress the state has made in getting more people into alternative fuel vehicles and reducing pollution. California's goal for 2035 is that all new passenger vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission. Car technology today, such as battery-electric, plug-in hybrid-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles, is helping the state reach its goal, according to the California Air Resources Board. In fact, sales on electric vehicles have been on the rise in the state since 2011, with the exception of stagnant sales between 2018 and 2020, according to a report published by UC Davis. Today, one in four new cars sold in the state is an EV, Dahlia Garas, of the university's Electric Vehicle Research Center, said in the report. The university's Electric Vehicle Research Center conducted a survey of drivers from the start of the year until June and found that almost 30% of people said that without any state incentives, including the decal, they wouldn't have chosen to purchase an electric vehicle, said Scott Hardman, assistant director of the center. "We're still at a very fragile point in the transition to all vehicles being electric," Hardman said. "Only eight percent of the vehicles on the road are electric, and that's not enough for you to reach the point where the vehicles are a social norm." The Clean Air Vehicle Decal program is just one way the state is working toward its environmental goals — milestones that have recently come under attack, including California's decades-old authority to enforce its own environmental standards. Recently, U.S. House representatives voted to prohibit California from banning the sale of new gasoline-only cars by 2035 and end California's ability to set emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks and to combat smog levels in the state. In Magavern's view, those actions are part of the Trump administration's "war" on California's air, water and climate. But even though the carpool decal program was once helpful in getting Californians to purchase electric vehicles, Magavern argues that times have changed. "I think that you can make a good argument that they've outlived their time and that it's more important to have the carpool lanes be filled by vehicles that actually have carpools in them," he said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
California EV drivers could lose their carpool lane privileges in September
For the last two decades, more than a million motorists who have slapped 'clean air vehicle' decals on their electric and hybrid cars have been free to cruise in carpool lanes with no passengers. But that perk could be coming to an end on Sept. 30 if Congress fails to extend California's Clean Air Vehicle Decal program. 'Clean Air Vehicle Decals are a smart, cost-effective incentive that has played an important role driving the adoption of clean and zero-emission vehicles in California,' read a statement from Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board. 'But thanks to the federal government's failure to act, this successful program is coming to an end.' You can still apply for a decal by Aug. 29, but it will become invalid on Oct. 2, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Extending the decal program in California — or any other state — would require the approval of Congress and the signature of President Trump, said Bill Magavern, policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air. 'I certainly would not bet on that,' Magavern said. 'It seems that the only deadline that this Congress responds to are the deadlines that are set by Trump, and I really don't see him going out of his way to extend this program.' Federal legislation has allowed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant solo drivers in low-emission and energy-efficient cars to use the carpool, or High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV), lane. The goal was to promote the adoption of alternative-fuel vehicles and assist in meeting environmental goals that included reducing fuel consumption and pollution caused by congested freeways, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Over time, states developed incentive programs, choosing which car models to give carpool access to. 'Clearly in the early days of zero-emission cars, the carpool lane stickers were an important incentive for some drivers, particularly in places like the Bay Area and Los Angeles where there is major congestion,' Magavern said. California is one of 13 states that offer this type of incentive program to its residents. Qualified drivers in the Golden State include those who drive fuel cell electric, natural gas or plug-in electric cars. Whether the program is still a major incentive, 'with electric vehicles topping 20% of new sales, I think is open to question,' Magavern said. However, the electric car advocacy group Plug In America said the program has always been a factor in the minds of consumers. 'Just like a lot of other incentives, the HOV lane access through the Clean Air Vehicle Program is one of those things that drivers look to to assess the overall package of what it's like to either go electric or to get that next electric vehicle,' said Alexia Martineau, senior policy manager for Plug in America. Not renewing the program means that those drivers just have one less reason in the positive column for going electric, Martineau said. In 2023, California had nearly 1.3 million light-duty electric vehicle registrations and was the only state to report such a high number. Behind California was Florida, with roughly 255,000 registrations, and Texas, with roughly 230,000, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. (Neither Florida nor Texas offers an incentive program.) In 2015, Congress authorized California's program through a highway funding bill, but that authorization is expiring as of Sept. 30. In an effort to extend the decal program, state Assemblymember Greg Wallis (R-Bermuda Dunes) authored Assembly Bill 2678, which would push the end date to Jan. 1, 2027. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year but is lacking federal approval. Without federal approval, the bill becomes moot. 'Putting the brakes on this program means that starting October 1, 2025, CAV decals will no longer be valid in California, or elsewhere in the United States,' the Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement. 'All vehicles will be required to meet posted vehicle occupancy to travel in carpool lanes and pay required tolls or risk receiving a citation.' According to the California Air Resources Board, there are currently 519,000 active decals in the state, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Without the program, drivers will lose access to the carpool lane, but Magavern said it should also mean less congestion in the HOV lanes. 'Now that California has hundreds of thousands of zero-emission vehicles, they can take up a lot of space in the HOV lanes, and those were meant to incentivize people to carpool,' he said. In addition to drivers losing access to carpool lanes, the change could slow the progress the state has made in getting more people into alternative fuel vehicles and reducing pollution. California's goal for 2035 is that all new passenger vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission. Car technology today, such as battery-electric, plug-in hybrid-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles, is helping the state reach its goal, according to the California Air Resources Board. In fact, sales on electric vehicles have been on the rise in the state since 2011, with the exception of stagnant sales between 2018 and 2020, according to a report published by UC Davis. Today, one in four new cars sold in the state is an EV, Dahlia Garas, of the university's Electric Vehicle Research Center, said in the report. The university's Electric Vehicle Research Center conducted a survey of drivers from the start of the year until June and found that almost 30% of people said that without any state incentives, including the decal, they wouldn't have chosen to purchase an electric vehicle, said Scott Hardman, assistant director of the center. 'We're still at a very fragile point in the transition to all vehicles being electric,' Hardman said. 'Only eight percent of the vehicles on the road are electric, and that's not enough for you to reach the point where the vehicles are a social norm.' The Clean Air Vehicle Decal program is just one way the state is working toward its environmental goals — milestones that have recently come under attack, including California's decades-old authority to enforce its own environmental standards. Recently, U.S. House representatives voted to prohibit California from banning the sale of new gasoline-only cars by 2035 and end California's ability to set emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks and to combat smog levels in the state. In Magavern's view, those actions are part of the Trump administration's 'war' on California's air, water and climate. But even though the carpool decal program was once helpful in getting Californians to purchase electric vehicles, Magavern argues that times have changed. 'I think that you can make a good argument that they've outlived their time and that it's more important to have the carpool lanes be filled by vehicles that actually have carpools in them,' he said.
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
A Piedmont wealth manager left his wife and a dying man at scene of hit-and-run. Now he wants his license back
A Piedmont wealth manager convicted of a deadly hit-and-run is fighting to get his driver's license reinstated. Attorneys for Timothy Hamano say the 68-year-old man has already served a mandatory three-year period without his driving privileges, and should be allowed to resume a normal life. But their request drew fervent resistance from family members of Gregory Turnage, the man Hamano struck and killed on Mother's Day in 2021. It's the latest chapter in an unusually complicated case that's produced two starkly different narratives. Hamano's lawyers say their client's life was upended by a tragic accident that he regrets every day. Turnage's bereaved relatives, by contrast, see Hamano as an avatar of wealth and power, maneuvering through a justice system where money buys better outcomes. Losing his ability to drive was the only 'real punishment' Hamano ever received, wrote Turnage's partner, Angie Brey, in a searing July letter to the Alameda County court. 'If you take a life with your car, I don't think you should get your license back,' Brey told the Chronicle. 'That's where I stand.' The crash occurred on May 9, 2021, when police said Hamano plowed his white Lexus into a parked SUV on leafy Park Boulevard in Oakland. He struck Turnage, who was walking on the sidewalk, with a force strong enough to throw the 41-year-old man over the hood of the Lexus and then back onto the pavement. As Turnage lay bleeding, witnesses said, Hamano opened his door and walked around the crumpled front bumper, looking down at the gravely injured man. He then fled on foot, leaving Turnage behind, as well as his wife, who sat in the front passenger seat of the Lexus behind a deployed airbag. Hamano turned himself in the next day after Oakland police issued a warrant for his arrest. Although restaurant receipts obtained by police indicate that he had been drinking prior to the crash, prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to charge him with driving while intoxicated. Last year Hamano pled no contest to felony vehicular manslaughter and fleeing the scene of an accident, receiving a sentence of six years' home detention with an ankle monitor. Under California law, defendants typically serve half the time to which they are sentenced, so Hamano spent three years confined to his house in Piedmont. The conditions of his $125,000 bail barred him from driving or drinking alcohol, but owing to a clerical error, court staff failed to report his conviction to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The error was first reported by Cal Matters. Out of the hundreds of mandatory DMV notifications that Alameda County court has sent since 2019, Hamano's was one of two that slipped, according to court spokesperson Paul Rosynsky. When court officials learned of the mistake, Rosynsky said, they 'immediately rectified the situation,' creating a new quandary. By then Hamano had successfully re-applied for his license, only to have the DMV revoke it on May 28. His attorney, Colin Cooper, subsequently filed a motion for the court to 'set aside' the DMV's order. In a recent interview, Cooper emphasized that this penalty seemed to come out of nowhere: The case has long been resolved, he noted, and months have passed since Hamano settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Turnage and Brey's son, Miles. 'If someone commits this crime (of vehicular manslaughter) and admits to it, then part of the punishment, by statute, is that you can't drive for three years,' Cooper said. 'I think that's appropriate. And I think that occurred here. We abided by the tenor of the law.' But Brey maintains that Hamano poses a threat to public safety, and contends that he shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel. In her letter to the court, she cited a subsequent collision in Oakland that Hamano reported to his insurance carrier in May. Cooper said his client was hit by another car and the other driver was at fault.
Techday NZ
4 days ago
- Business
- Techday NZ
AI-driven phishing & quishing attacks surge in Netcraft report
Netcraft has published research highlighting the rise of advanced phishing, quishing, and impersonation attacks powered by artificial intelligence, revealing a variety of cyber threat trends for 2025. The company's latest findings detail a significant increase in impersonation attacks targeting both consumers and brands, facilitated by AI tools and new forms of cybercrime-as-a-service models. AI involvement in phishing According to the research, large language models (LLMs) are inadvertently assisting cyber criminals by generating and recommending phishing sites in response to natural language queries. Netcraft found that 34% of 131 hostnames suggested by AI models for 50 major brands were not under brand control, raising the risk that users might unknowingly trust fraudulent websites identified as legitimate by conversational AI systems. The implications of these AI-generated errors are significant, since users who believe they are receiving verified site recommendations may be more likely to visit and interact with malicious sites. Manipulation of search engines Netcraft also discovered that threat actors are using search engine optimisation (SEO) tactics to "poison" search results. By creating convincing lookalike sites and exploiting compromised websites, cyber criminals are manipulating search algorithms to promote malicious links while evading traditional brand protection solutions. Researchers highlighted Hacklink, a platform selling access to thousands of compromised sites for injecting malicious code. This approach allows cybercriminals to improve the ranking of fake sites in search results, making it more difficult for potential victims to distinguish between genuine and fraudulent online destinations. Growth of quishing Another area of concern is the increase in "quishing" attacks, which utilise QR codes to route victims to phishing sites. Netcraft's findings attribute the rise in part to the ease with which users are fooled by QR codes, making it easier for attackers to obtain sensitive data or personal information. The report notes that companies utilising QR codes, or whose customers regularly interact online, may face elevated risks of brand spoofing if attackers exploit this vector. Rise in toll text and DMV scams Netcraft recorded a surge in toll text and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) scams, particularly in the United States. Over a two-week period, URLs targeting users in certain states increased by more than 200%. These scams employ "smishing" - fraudulent SMS messages - encouraging recipients to click on a link claiming an issue with toll payments or DMV balances. Netcraft attributed the proliferation of these scams to their affordability and the relative simplicity of targeting large numbers of people via text messages. Impersonation-as-a-service platforms The report further identifies the emergence of impersonation-as-a-service tools that accelerate brand spoofing. These services allow attackers to rapidly clone company websites - sometimes within minutes - and collect user credentials through fake login portals. Need for defensive measures "Attackers never stop innovating, as our latest research illustrates, so defenders can't stop, either. To properly defend against the attacks outlined here, security teams need current threat intelligence and automation capabilities that extend beyond the corporate perimeter. Netcraft's detection and threat analysis is a force multiplier, combining rules-based processing and pattern recognition with AI to achieve optimal outcome." This comment from Ryan Woodley, Chief Executive Officer of Netcraft, underlines the need for organisations to invest in advanced detection, automation, and intelligence-driven security measures to keep pace with the evolving tactics used by cyber criminals. The research demonstrates the diverse and expanding ways that AI and automation are influencing cybercrime, while also highlighting new challenges for consumer safety and brand integrity in an increasingly digital landscape.
San Francisco Chronicle
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tesla and California's DMV are facing off, over the car company's self-driving claims
The fate of Tesla 's business in California, at least for the next 30 days, could be decided in a stuffy second-floor hearing room in Oakland. There, attorneys for the electric car company and the Department of Motor Vehicles are facing off this week before an administrative judge, over claims that Tesla deceived consumers with its autopilot and self-driving features. Officials at the DMV filed those allegations in July 2022 and amended them in November 2023, seeking to suspend Tesla's licenses to manufacture and sell vehicles in California for at least 30 days. Additionally, the department is pursuing a court order for the electric vehicle to pay an undetermined sum in restitution. In court filings, attorneys for the state Department of Justice have cited four phrases or product descriptions from Tesla's website that state officials describe as misleading or that amount to false advertising. These include: 'autopilot'; 'full self-driving capability'; a promise that the system 'is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver's seat'; and claims that cars can effectively drive people to their destinations, with the vehicle navigating streets, freeways and intersections and then automatically parking itself. 'These labels and descriptions represent specifically that respondent (Tesla)'s vehicles will operate as autonomous vehicles, which they could not and cannot do,' Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote in a July 17 brief. Attorneys for Tesla argue, to the contrary, that while the company's driver assistance technology qualifies as 'state of the art,' the company 'has always made clear' that its vehicles are not fully autonomous, and that they require 'active driver supervision' from a human. As this case proceeds through administrative court in Oakland, Tesla is facing a separate federal trial in Miami that threatens to fell its autopilot system and its brand image. The Miami case centers on a 2019 fatal crash of a Tesla Model S sedan with its autopilot engaged. According to court documents, the Tesla driver had bent to pick up a cell phone he had dropped when suddenly his car rammed into a parked SUV, killing one person and seriously injuring another.
