DMV deluged with Hybrid permit requests

Californians are going gaga over the chance to drive hybrid cars in the fast lane.

California hybrid car owners, already leveraging super-efficient gas mileage during a time of $3-a-gallon unleaded, are flooding the state with more than 1,000 requests a day for permits that will allow them to zip into carpool lanes even if they drive solo.

More than 12,000 people have applied for the special permits since they became available Aug. 10, said Bill Branch, a spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles. So far, about 1,500 stickers have been sent out.

If the goal was to incentivize people to buy hybrids, wouldn't it have made more sense to only give permits to hybrids purchased after the law went into effect?