Q. Dear Answer Man: I recently received my renewal registration form for my car, with orders to get a smog check. I returned to the SMOG CHECK ONLY establishment I had used in the past. The very nice smog man pointed out that I needed to go to a STAR smog place. What??? Why??? Because Sacramento decided my ’04 BMW with 57,000 miles wouldn’t pass the test? Ha! Why is a smog-check place in a gas station that also repairs cars better than a place that ONLY does smog checks?
– Lois Rufer, Fountain Valley
A. Stay peppy, Lois, but odds are high the state believes your ol’ ride might have trouble passing the test.
So it directed you to a smog-check station in the 5-year-old STAR program – a station that has proven it is especially good at grading the test and has technicians with clean testing and legal backgrounds.
“Regarding which vehicles are selected for the STAR Program, vehicles that are likely to fail their next inspection are directed to (them),” Matt Woodcheke, a spokesman for California’s Bureau of Automotive Repair, told Honk in an email. “There are a number of factors used to determine the likelihood that a vehicle will fail its next smog-check inspection, which includes the age of the vehicle … test history, and other data.
“There is a small population of vehicles that are directed randomly,” he added.
The cost should be about the same as for a regular smog-check station. Plenty of motorists not directed to a STAR shop, who just need a standard smog check on their vehicles, still go to one. By being a STAR shop, the owner has expanded the field as to who he or she can take in as customers.
Q. On a recent trip up the 395, I noticed the “Speed Checked By Aircraft” signs. I think they’ve been along this road for 20, 30 years. Seems expensive to check for speeds this way. Is it still being done, and if so how?
– Ross Pollard, San Clemente
A. Yes, this strategy is still used, but not often in Orange County.
Such deployments are more common in the less-populated regions, such as out near El Centro or Winterhaven, where aircraft can cover a lot of ground, said Ray Payton, a California Highway Patrol officer and spokesman. The air crew can call for a ground unit when a speeder is spotted.
In a CHP helicopter or plane, there will be a pilot and a passenger. Both are cops. The passenger can tell the speed of a vehicle below by using special markings on the freeway’s shoulders and doing a little math.
Sometimes, black-and-whites will be poised in spots, such as on a ramp, ready to slip in behind the speeder and light it up. The passenger in the aircraft is put down as the witnessing officer on the ticket.
Now, the CHP does base a plane and three helicopters at the Fullerton Airport, but their primary job is to join freeway pursuits when requested by CHP officers in squad cars or elsewhere on the ground. The aircraft at Fullerton are assigned to Orange and Los Angeles counties, and sometimes one will go south to help out over San Diego County.
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.