Question: I just came back fromJapan, where they were selling replica Hawaii safety inspection decals at a vehicle rest area at the Tokyo Bay bridge. I know we transitioned to new stickers, but there are still cars that have the colored safety decals. Aren’t these illegal?
Answer: At this point, no, because the state has mostly changed to the new black-and-white inspection stickers.
The city Division of Motor Vehicles said it would inform the state Department of Transportation about these replicas, "but it is not felt that this is a cause for great concern in light of our new system that includes inventory controls," said Sheri Kajiwara, director of the Department of Customer Services.
There are "much better inventory controls under the electronic inspection program" than there were with the old manual inspection program, and police can easily determine whether the sticker is valid or fraudulent, she said.
In this case the word "replica" is clearly printed in English, and, roughly translated, the Japanese wording says the stickers are not "real" and are meant to be a decorative or souvenir item for people who like Hawaii.
The old, colored Hawaii safety decals are valid until the end of the year. But while the Hawaii decals had one color for an entire year, the Japanese replicas have a different color for each month.
The new Hawaii stickers have the vehicle identification number and license number of the vehicles they are being placed on.
Unfortunately, any kind of fraudulent safety sticker will not be caught until a law enforcement action is taken, Kajiwara said.
At that point the Honolulu Police Department can check the city’s motor vehicle registration database to determine if the vehicle is registered properly, which means it passed a safety inspection and also has insurance.
Question: I’ve been receiving a questionnaire from the director of the U.S. Census Bureau, and it just says, "Resident," with my address. No name, but they keep sending me a card from the Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, saying that I am required by U.S. law to respond to this survey. My daughter says that it doesn’t have my name, so I don’t need to respond. Is that correct? What is going on?
Answer: A Census Bureau survey "is always addressed to a housing unit address and not an individual person," said a spokeswoman for the bureau’s Los Angeles office.
She pointed out that any request for survey information will have the name of the survey, will be clearly identified as coming from the Census Bureau as "official business of the United States" and will also state whether participation is mandatory or voluntary.
In addition to the familiar decennial survey done every 10 years, the Census Bureau conducts many other types of surveys, with the American Community Survey being its largest.
If you receive a visit from someone from the bureau or receive a survey and have questions, you can write to Census Bureau, Los Angeles Regional Office, 15350 Sherman Way, Suite 400, Van Nuys, CA 91406; call 818-267-1700 or 800-992-3530; fax 818-267-1711; or email Los.Angeles.Regional.Office@census.gov.
The Census Bureau official also pointed to information online at www.census.gov/survey_participants, which explains what the surveys are about and the process that takes place when someone is randomly selected for participation.
Mahalo
To the kind lady in the black Jetta ahead of me in the drive-thru lane at Starbucks Waipio, who generously paid for my drinks. What a pleasant surprise.
— Lori
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
