SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced Feb. 2 that it would no longer accept applications from qualified hybrid drivers for permission to drive solo in carpool lanes, according to the Oakland Tribune. State law allowed the DMV to issue 85,000 stickers to certain hybrid drivers on a first-come, first-serve basis. DMV Spokesman Steve Haskins said his agency has received 700 applications more than the limit and no longer wants motorists to send in carpool paperwork. The state passed legislation in 2005 allowing 75,000 hybrids into carpool lanes. Last year, new legislation boosted that number to 85,000. The stickers are good until 2010. To obtain the $8 permit, California motorists had to drive a vehicle that gets at least 45 mpg of gasoline in highway driving. The Prius, Civic, and Insight are the only hybrids that qualified.
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