Hybrids With Stickers Getting Kicked Out of HOV Lane

Last night I passed a couple of cars while I was in the carpool lane (west 210 east of Pasadena). When I got to my exit, 10 or 15 miles later, after working my way across 4 lanes to the ramp, one of the cars I remember passing was right next to me. Maybe the HOV is not such a big perk after all.

 

I'm sorry, but I feel that HOV lanes should be reserved for high occupancy vehicles only. They are designed to reduce traffic by encouraging drivers to car pool. Letting single-occupant hybrids and EV's in these lanes does nothing to reduce traffic.

 

When I drive on the freeways in the Los Angeles/Orange Counties, I rarely see the carpool lanes clogged. Also, when I look at the other side of the freeway, there aren't too many solo drivers with the HOV stickers. What freeways are the carpool lanes being clogged due to the solo drivers with HOV stickers?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 20 2007, 03:00 PM) [snapback]465382[/snapback]</div>

I agree. I've always felt that there are enough other perks to driving a Prius, to the point that HOV lane usage wasn't necessary to entice me to buy one. I have the stickers (the rush to get them swept me up, and I thought that I'd be needing them), but have never applied them to my car for the reason above. In fact, I feel bad that I do have them, and someone who might use them more than I, doesn't.

The tax credit did help, however.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 20 2007, 04:00 PM) [snapback]465382[/snapback]</div>

They were designed to lower pollution by cutting down the number of cars on the road.

Lower-polluting hybrids were allowed in because they also did that job.

It's a shame the people who didn't understand why they used to whiz down near-empty HOV lanes are demanding those lanes be made empty again, and dopey politicians seem to be listening.

There is no Right To Get Home Faster just because you ride with someone else. Never was. It just looked that way...

 

Then should single driving motorcycles be excluded too by that logic?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mikepaul @ Jun 20 2007, 04:44 PM) [snapback]465401[/snapback]</div>

Funny, but the last time I checked, they were named High Occupancy Vehicle lanes -- not Low Emmission Vehicle lanes...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jun 20 2007, 04:45 PM) [snapback]465404[/snapback]</div>

Yes, but it wouldn't matter because most of them create their own lane by driving on the shoulder anyway.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jun 20 2007, 03:45 PM) [snapback]465404[/snapback]</div>

No, because you can't get higher occupancy than 100%. Even if it's a two-seater Harley, that's still 50% occupancy, the equivalent of two people in a normal car.

HOV lanes are built to relieve congestion (which is why they're called HOV and not Low Emissions Lanes). The fact that they cut down greenhouses gases is a plus, but it's not the main reason they're there.

 

I used to live in Phoenix and, to pass the time while stuck in traffic, I would sometimes count the number of single-occupancy cars in the car pool lane that would go by before someone legally there did. I think my record was 17. But, every once in a while you would see someone pulled over and getting a ticket for this.

I moved from there to Miami and it was far far worse. Miami is the kind of place where turn signals are seen as a dangerous provocation to other drivers. HOV lanes there are a joke.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Jun 20 2007, 02:07 PM) [snapback]465425[/snapback]</div>

23 USC Sec 149 refers specifically to emmissions. It also mentions congestion. Emmissions were a definite consideration of congress when they established the HOV Lanes.

 

Sometimes I think we would be better off with SAC lanes. Slowpokes and Clueless. These people tie up more traffic because they are in every lane and don't get out of the way. They think they are the only person on the road. They ought to get a ticket if they are not going the speed limit.

If the middle lanes were reserved for commuting traffic and the slowpokes were not allowed to bog down entrance and exit ramps by going 30 miles per hour, it would be better.

Hell - just take away their drivers license.

This also applies to the asshats that go 80 plus miles per hour weaving all over 6 lanes of traffic.

 

are people who drive and have an infant allowed to drive in the HOV lanes?

or people who have a kid under the driving age allowed to use those lanes?

i suspect that they are, but i'm just not sure.

 

The idea is that by getting 45+ MPG you're actually getting the gas mileage of atleast two vehicles, and on average, two vehicles equals 3 passengers, which in turn equals the law limits for a automobile to drive in the carpool lane. It's not rocket science. Either way though, I could care less if they revoked all the HOV stickers. It's California's totally messed up freeway system that gets congested, rather than adding HOV lanes they should add loop systems like San Antonio, TX has in their city. There's no need for HOV lanes there and there's deffiniately plenty of population AND traffic, it's just not as congested as out here even with HOV lanes.

 

The lanes were miss-named HOV lanes because at the time, they did not anticipate a car that would use half the gas with hardly any emisions. And unless two motorcycles are riding side by side, once you factor in a safe following distance in front and behind them, they take up the same amount of real estate as a Prius.

There is no reason to penalize Prius drivers for using a different equally valid method of reducing polution.

So, going back to the name "High Ocupantcy Vehicle Lane" Does that mean if I smoke a little weed or take a few pills, I can then use the lane when I am "high"?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NoMoShocks @ Jun 21 2007, 02:23 AM) [snapback]465616[/snapback]</div>

Only if your last name is Hilton or Lohan...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 20 2007, 04:50 PM) [snapback]465410[/snapback]</div>

HOV lanes were born from the Federal "Clean Air Act", not the "Shorter Commute Act". Their goal was to reduce pollution. Creating HOV lanes was one of the ways states could meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act and continue to receive Federal highway funding. It was an ammendment to the Clean Air Act that allowed states to permit hybrids to travel in HOV lanes.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jun 21 2007, 08:31 AM) [snapback]465654[/snapback]</div>

Here is a better idea. Why not convert the existing HOV lanes to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes? This would permit single-occupant vehicles to buy the right to use the HOV lanes for a toll. That is pretty much what they are doing now with hybrids, so why not open it to everyone else as well?

 

If they take away my carpool stickers there will be a Prius for sale the next day.

 

I'd be interested to see some numbers as to the where the distribution of HOV stickers have gone in this state. Along with that actually throw some cameras on the parts of the HOV lanes that get clogged and then actually count the number of hybrids vs non-hybrids in them, I find it hard to believe that 85000 cars distributed throughout two of the larger population centers really is having that much of an effect.

Here in the SF Bay area, the only places where car pool lanes get a little slow is near the bay bridge where the carpool lane ends when continuing south rather than going across the bridge as cars like to cheat over sooner, and it seems every day they're taking more and more liberties... as it stands it's probably a good quarter mile they back up in the carpool lane, it's funny too as drivers are still driving.. er parked right over the diamond painted on the road. But that's not a hybrid problem, other than that there really isn't any issues with carpool lanes.

Personally if they revoke this, I think they should also revoke the ability for two seaters to go through as well, since the requirement is 3 people per car, but 2 people in a 2 seater is ok.. that or I should just put my back seat down and claim to be a 2 seater.