ack! people abusing the HOV lanes!

[Rallispec]

this has got to be my biggest pet peeve at the moment..


this morning on the way to work this lady came flying down the HOV lane, alone in her car... then a police officer comes up behind her from out of nowhere.

so she gets pulled over. i'm guessing the cop let her off though, becuase 30 seconds later he walked back to his car and she drove off... she merged back in to traffic and back over in to the regular car lanes... the cop then drove on.

so about a minute later, i guess she got stuck of sitting in traffic (there was an accident, the regular lanes were not moving at all) so this lady just pulls back into the HOV lane and drives off.

kinda pissed me off.

 

[Linflas]

She must have had a kid in the car that you could not see. From what I have seen the cops don't let people off when they pull them for HOV unless it is right at the switch time.

 

[txgixer]

Originally posted by: Rallispec
this has got to be my biggest pet peeve at the moment..


this morning on the way to work this lady came flying down the HOV lane, alone in her car... then a police officer comes up behind her from out of nowhere.

so she gets pulled over. i'm guessing the cop let her off though, becuase 30 seconds later he walked back to his car and she drove off... she merged back in to traffic and back over in to the regular car lanes... the cop then drove on.

so about a minute later, i guess she got stuck of sitting in traffic (there was an accident, the regular lanes were not moving at all) so this lady just pulls back into the HOV lane and drives off.

kinda pissed me off.

You pull that stunt in one of the Dallas HOV lanes and you will get yourself a $200 fine. They regularly police those lanes with motorcyles and enforce the speed with laser. Those are some sneaky ticket writers!

Anyway, I despise single riders in the HOV lane. I would car-pool and use the HOV but no one wants to get to work at 5.45a

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: Linflas
She must have had a kid in the car that you could not see. From what I have seen the cops don't let people off when they pull them for HOV unless it is right at the switch time.

then why would she have ever merged back into the regular lanes at all then?

it was close to swtich tmie, switch is at 9:30, this happened at 9

 

[vi edit]

For those of us who are HOV impaired...could you please explain what they are, and what rules/regulations apply to them?

Thanks!

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
For those of us who are HOV impaired...could you please explain what they are, and what rules/regulations apply to them?

Thanks!

Washington's version of the Moscow Kremlin lanes. Between 0530-0930 am east bound and 1500-1900 west bound the far left lane is useable by only car poolers. It is worthless on interstate 66 but works somewhat better on interstate 95/395 with different hours and requirements because the lanes are physically seperated from the other lanes and do not steal a lane from the highway for the purpose.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
For those of us who are HOV impaired...could you please explain what they are, and what rules/regulations apply to them?

Thanks!

its a Lane that durring rush hours can be only be driven on my high occupancy vehciles (HOV).. here in VA its 2 passengers or more, also motorcylces count, and eco-freindly hybrid cars.

 

[Mill]

They have this in Atlanta and it doesn't help at all. People just use it as a lane to go really fast in.

 

[txgixer]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

Originally posted by: vi_edit
For those of us who are HOV impaired...could you please explain what they are, and what rules/regulations apply to them?

Thanks!

its a Lane that durring rush hours can be only be driven on my high occupancy vehciles (HOV).. here in VA its 2 passengers or more, also motorcylces count, and eco-freindly hybrid cars.

Dallas HOV lane information

 

[StattlichPassat]

Originally posted by: Rallispec
this has got to be my biggest pet peeve at the moment..


this morning on the way to work this lady came flying down the HOV lane, alone in her car... then a police officer comes up behind her from out of nowhere.

so she gets pulled over. i'm guessing the cop let her off though, becuase 30 seconds later he walked back to his car and she drove off... she merged back in to traffic and back over in to the regular car lanes... the cop then drove on.

so about a minute later, i guess she got stuck of sitting in traffic (there was an accident, the regular lanes were not moving at all) so this lady just pulls back into the HOV lane and drives off.

kinda pissed me off.

Ugh, I hate people that do that too- hardly ever see cops pulling people over on the urban freeways of Dallas though. txgixer frequents them more though, so maybe he can say otherwise. As long as I'm not in a traffic jam, I'm usually a happy camper.

 

[StageLeft]

That would piss me off...

 

[txgixer]

Originally posted by: NightFlyerGTI

Originally posted by: Rallispec
this has got to be my biggest pet peeve at the moment..


this morning on the way to work this lady came flying down the HOV lane, alone in her car... then a police officer comes up behind her from out of nowhere.

so she gets pulled over. i'm guessing the cop let her off though, becuase 30 seconds later he walked back to his car and she drove off... she merged back in to traffic and back over in to the regular car lanes... the cop then drove on.

so about a minute later, i guess she got stuck of sitting in traffic (there was an accident, the regular lanes were not moving at all) so this lady just pulls back into the HOV lane and drives off.

kinda pissed me off.

Ugh, I hate people that do that too- hardly ever see cops pulling people over on the urban freeways of Dallas though. txgixer frequents them more though, so maybe he can say otherwise. As long as I'm not in a traffic jam, I'm usually a happy camper.

I drive 35E, 190, and the North Toll more than anything. They police the 35E HOV daily and I hear they police the IH-30 HOV every day as well. I do not know about the 635 HOV since I avoid 635 like the plague.

And yes, ppl do tend to high ball down the HOV.

 

[Linflas]

The true beauty of HOV is the way it allows localities to avoid their infrastructure responsibilities. They can approve zoning for large stands of tract housing without planning for 1 square inch of new pavement and then blame the drivers for the traffic woes. In Northern Virginia the traffic woes are not just confined to rush hours but now extend into weekends and other off time as well when HOV is not in place.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: Linflas
The true beauty of HOV is the way it allows localities to avoid their infrastructure responsibilities. They can approve zoning for large stands of tract housing without planning for 1 square inch of new pavement and then blame the drivers for the traffic woes. In Northern Virginia the traffic woes are not just confined to rush hours but now extend into weekends and other off time as well when HOV is not in place.

their is NEVER a good time for driving around here.. traffic here sucks. They built up the area way to quickly, roads couldnt keep up... and then builders came in and built huge developments without touching the roads or infrastructure.

the problems extend beyond roads though... Schools are overcrowded becuase all these new houses bring lots of new kids.. no new schools though. fire and police are also falling behind.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

Originally posted by: Linflas
The true beauty of HOV is the way it allows localities to avoid their infrastructure responsibilities. They can approve zoning for large stands of tract housing without planning for 1 square inch of new pavement and then blame the drivers for the traffic woes. In Northern Virginia the traffic woes are not just confined to rush hours but now extend into weekends and other off time as well when HOV is not in place.

their is NEVER a good time for driving around here.. traffic here sucks. They built up the area way to quickly, roads couldnt keep up... and then builders came in and built huge developments without touching the roads or infrastructure.

the problems extend beyond roads though... Schools are overcrowded becuase all these new houses bring lots of new kids.. no new schools though. fire and police are also falling behind.

Funny thing is now they want us to vote to approve new taxes for supposed upgrades. I would have no problem with this once they account for what happened to the upgrades we were supposed to get from other new taxes such as the last rise in the sales tax, the NVCTT (Northern Virginia Commuter Tobacco Tax), and increased gasoline taxes back in the early 90's. They will try to blame Gilmore and the repeal of the personal property tax on autos but the real truth is they took the money and spent it elsewhere in the state. Go look at the highway system in Richmond sometime if you want to see what planning will do.

 

[notfred]

HOV lanes are stupid. They're a waste of perfectly good freeway space. Imagine this: You've got 3 lanes of traffic crawling along, and a 4th lane sitting there empty, with no one using it. Why not? Cause it's the all important HOV lane. Now, if the lane was available to use, all those people in those three lanes could be getting home faster. Sure it'd still be congested, but less congested. But no, they have to waste that lane completely.

 

[ElFenix]

in houston the old HOV lanes are set off by concrete barriers and are in the middle of the freeway. theres probably 3 exits on a 15 miles stretch of road, and theres a cop posted at each one. its really enforced. the new ones are the more conventional ones you have in dallas and elsewhere, lanes set off by a couple feet of do-not-cross area.

in austin we don't have any HOV lanes yet, probably because all the hippies think that roads cause traffic and sprawl. and here i thought it was people moving into the area.

 

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Originally posted by: Millenium
They have this in Atlanta and it doesn't help at all. People just use it as a lane to go really fast in.

I noticed that while driving through Altanta once. That lane was scary...I stayed away!

 

[tgillitzr]

Originally posted by: notfred
HOV lanes are stupid. They're a waste of perfectly good freeway space. Imagine this: You've got 3 lanes of traffic crawling along, and a 4th lane sitting there empty, with no one using it. Why not? Cause it's the all important HOV lane. Now, if the lane was available to use, all those people in those three lanes could be getting home faster. Sure it'd still be congested, but less congested. But no, they have to waste that lane completely.

I agree completely. They are suppost to "promote car pooling" or some BS. What I find to be a total crock of sh1t is that a husband and wife driving down the road can use that lane if they want cause there are two of them in the car, and are technically "car pooling", but me driving alone can't.

I was driving through Minneapolis/St Paul last year and traffic was backed up for miles, with the HOV lane empty. Occasionally a car would go flying by in it. I finally got so fed up with it and moved into the emtpy lane.

 

[pyonir]

you really get pissed off about those HOV lanes don't you.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: pyonir
you really get pissed off about those HOV lanes don't you.

well their is plenty to get pissed about

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

Originally posted by: pyonir
you really get pissed off about those HOV lanes don't you.

well their is plenty to get pissed about

or you could just get used to it, and deal with it accordingly.

 

[Pixelated]

for all those here in California, they are also called carpool lanes

 

[Adul]

i love using the hov lane. laugh at all those stuck in traffic to

yes i carpooled into work.

the HOV lanes in phoenix are m-f 6 - 9 am and 3 - 7 pm. The fine was doubled last year to 458 for driving in the HOV lane.

 

[amnesiac]

Originally posted by: Pixelated
for all those here in California, they are also called carpool lanes

Yep. Never heard of an HOV lane until I went driving out of state.
All CA carpool lanes are 2 or more people too. HOV is sometimes for 3+.
Actually I think they might have HOV lanes out in the Eastern part of the state, IIRC.

I really hate it when jackasses use the carpool lane as a normal lane. I see them weave in and out of the double yellows like nothing's wrong.