Autoblog

Update: Corporations are not people in carpool lanes

Jonathon Ramsey — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 16:58:00 EST

Jonathon Friedman had his day in a San Francisco court, then Jurist Frank Drago had his say, declaring Friedman guilty. The case centered on a sheaf of corporation papers that Friedman used to make a statement about corporate 'personhood.' Driving in a carpool lane in the Bay Area, Friedman was pulled over for not having at least two people in the car. His response was to show the officer his business papers and, citing US Supreme Court decisions that have affirmed that corporations are people, said he indeed did have two people in the car and so was, in fact, carpooling.

The case went before the traffic referee, and the officer who issued the ticket even showed up to defend it. Friedman's attorney, Ford Greene, pointed to the "constitutionally vague" correlation between the California vehicle code that defines a person as "natural persons and corporations" and the carpool lane signs that demands cars in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane be occupied by "two or more persons."

The jurist wasn't interested in all that "novel" malarkey. Drago said, "Common sense says carrying a sheath of papers in the front seat does not relieve traffic congestion," then declared Friedman guilty. Now, we're not constitutional law scholars, but it's been a while since we heard "common sense" used as the sole litmus test for extracting the intention of a law and assigning guilt - and we wonder if that's the same common sense that was used to declare corporations people in the first place.

No matter, Friedman said he expected to lose, and that he'll be appealing the ruling within 30 days.

Update: Corporations are not people in carpool lanes originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 12 Jan 2013 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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California man using "corporations are people" argument to challenge HOV lane ticket

Zach Bowman — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal

A driver in San Rafael, California is attempting to appeal a traffic citation for driving alone in a High Occupancy Vehicle lane. Jonathan Frieman and his attorney, Ford Greene, argue that since Frieman had corporate incorporation papers in his car when he was stopped by an officer, he was actually carpooling at the time. Technically, the state of California's definition of personhood includes both "natural persons and corporations." But Frieman's out to do more than just skirt a $478 traffic ticket with a little fancy legal footwork.

He's sworn to chase the case all the way to the Supreme Court should the first trial not go his way in an attempt to "expose the impracticality of corporate personhood." If Frieman eventually wins his case, the victory could have serious implications on the US Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.

While the US legal system has weighed the benefits and drawbacks of corporate personhood for years, the issue became more clear in 2010 when the Supreme Court ruled that restricting corporate political spending violated the First Amendment. Granting corporations constitutional rights implies the entities themselves have personhood.

California man using "corporations are people" argument to challenge HOV lane ticket originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chevrolet Volt will not be eligible for HOV-lane access until mid-2012

Autoblog Staff — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:01:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Government/Legal, Hatchback, Chevrolet, Nissan, Electric

Prospective owners of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf shouldn't get too excited about driving in California carpool lanes as soon as they take delivery. Late Tuesday night California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 535 into law, extending access to the high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes to certain very low and zero emissions vehicles. This new class of vehicles known as Enhanced Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicles (enh-ATPZEVs) and includes plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles like the Leaf and Toyota's Prius PHEV.

Unfortunately, there are some caveats. SB 535 doesn't take effect until January 1, 2012 and even then only 40,000 of the special stickers needed for HOV access will be made available. In order to qualify, the vehicle has to be rated as an enh-ATPZEV, which brings up the second problem for Volt drivers. A General Motors spokesperson confirmed that the 2011 and 2012 Volt will not be enh-ATPZEV certified. The requirements to earn the enh-ATPZEV label are significantly tougher than the standard ATPZEV. Given the escalated development of the Volt, GM didn't have enough time to calibrate and verify that the plug-in hybrid would meet the standard over a 10-year/150,000-mile period.

That's also why the Volt battery only has the eight-year/100,000-mile warranty required for the non-enhanced ATPZEV. GM spokesman Rob Peterson verified that the Volt will be updated to enh-ATPZEV in mid-2012 when the 2013 model is introduced. In the meantime, you'll just to make sure to bring a friend if you want to ride in the carpool lane.

UPDATE: We just got word from Nissan that the Leaf is eligible for the All Access stickers under a previous bill passed (AB 1500) earlier this year. That means if you take delivery of a Leaf today, you can be flying in the HOV lanes tomorrow.

[Source: General Motors]

Chevrolet Volt will not be eligible for HOV-lane access until mid-2012 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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