Local News in Brief : 246 Smoking Cars Cited

Nearly 250 tickets were issued to drivers of excessively smoking motor vehicles--most of them diesels--in the first 17 days of the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s new smog patrols, Executive Officer James M. Lents said Tuesday.

The citations, issued by three California Highway Patrol officers specially assigned to the task under a contract with the AQMD, were in addition to the smoking vehicle citations issued by the CHP in the course of routine patrol work.

Lents said the fact that two-thirds of the vehicles were diesel powered was convincing evidence that diesel trucks, buses and cars must no longer be exempted from the state’s vehicle inspection and maintenance program, known as Smog Check.

During the 17-day period beginning April 1, Lents said, there were 246 citations and 23 warnings issued. In addition, 177 complaints were received from residents, who used the AQMD’s toll-free complaint number, 1 (800) 572-6306, to report smoking vehicles.