Reader urges online DMV renewals for elderly drivers

Q I am 76 and apparently in a very vulnerable age group with the coronavirus. I have an appointment to renew my driver’s license/REAL ID on March 30. I cannot renew by mail since I have to take the written test (think of all those keyboard germs!) and vision test. Then I read that the governor of Colorado is now allowing older folks (65 and older) to renew online instead of going to a DMV office to help them avoid possible exposure to the virus.

Can you start a movement to get our governor to do the same thing?

— Judy B.,

San Jose A A good idea. If Colorado can do this, surely we can. When the Colorado governor pushed this change, the state had a total number of 15 diagnosed cases of the coronavirus. California has a much higher rate, and it is growing daily. Q The DMV should be following state and county health department guidelines for gatherings of groups of 250. Those include making sure that there is a 6-foot space between individuals in such gatherings. In addition to wiping down surfaces between each customer contact, that would mean blocking off chairs in the waiting area and lines inside and outside DMV buildings. I cannot imagine that actually happening.

— Peter Schooley, San Jose A I can. You have good ideas that merit serious attention. Q I found an old article addressing the water that is seeping up from the pavement on Highway 101. It said Caltrans was going out there last August to make repairs. This has been part of my commute for over 10 years and seems to be getting worse since I noticed it a couple years ago. Do you have any updates as to when it might get fixed? — Anna Momrow,

Morgan Hill

A

Repairs on Highway 101 begin today to plug the leak caused by underground water bubbling near the surface. Overnight work will run seven days a week through Memorial Day. Q You wrote that tolls on express lanes will “cover CHP enforcement, maintenance and improvements along that freeway if there is extra cash.”

CHP enforcement? LOL. Where is that? Maui?

— Rajiv Bhateja A The Maui highway patrol? Never saw them on my only visit to Maui. Q Charles Shoemaker of Sunnyvale wanted to know why he can’t use certain toll lanes on the road even though he pays taxes for them. I’d like to know why my taxes pay for subsidies to farmers, yet I still have to buy food.

— Mike Melligan, Campbell

A

I have no problems with paying farmers, having grown up in Iowa and enjoying sweet corn plucked from their fields.