Hybrid Owners driving illegally on HOV lanes

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vroom @ Sep 17 2007, 04:30 PM) [snapback]513976[/snapback]</div>

From that website:

Can hybrid or electric vehicles travel The Toll Roads for free or at a discount?

No. Hybrid and electric vehicles are subject to normal toll rates for all vehicle types.

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The yellow stickers allow authorized vehicles to be in lanes normally reserved for carpools--there was never anything in the law (I believe) about exempting single-passenger hybrids from paying tolls. Don't SF Bay solo drivers still have to pay tolls on the bridges? Could it be that public/private partnership roads charge tolls and all-public toll roads let solo hybrids go for free??? I do not know, but it looks like you're stuck with paying on the Orange County toll roads.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mcbrunnhilde @ Sep 17 2007, 05:00 PM) [snapback]513994[/snapback]</div>

Part of getting a sticker is getting a special transponder from CalTrans that identifies your car as hybrid. So you may use the carpool lane but you still get dinged as a solo driver. I remember reading that if you're a carpool at that time you should hide your transponder in its bag to prevent from being charged.

So, sorry, no totally free ride for hybrid stickers. At least not in the SF area. (I also remember reading somewhere that the carpool lanes on the Santa Clara county expressways are not hybrid-sticker-friendly, either.)

 

I've now seen at least 3 different Priuses with dealer plates & stickers in the carpool lane! How is that possible that a car has a dealer plate and HOV stickers -- I bought my hybrid in early January & I was unable to get stickers since my plates didn't arrive until March.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(opus17 @ Sep 17 2007, 10:34 PM) [snapback]514166[/snapback]</div>

Could it be that they are used cars that were traded in to a dealer and previously had personalized license plates?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mcbrunnhilde @ Sep 18 2007, 10:30 AM) [snapback]514363[/snapback]</div>

I've been trying to find an explanation that doesn't involve some skullduggery. I saw a Prius in San Francisco with clean vehicle stickers and dealer plates well after the stickers had run out at the end of January. I was in my car and couldn't see if the yellow stickers reflected light in the correct way.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mcbrunnhilde @ Sep 17 2007, 07:00 PM) [snapback]513994[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for the info. I believe you are correct about the toll roads. There is some big difference about the HOV/carpool lanes FROM the toll roads where the toll roads still get the money. I drive in the San Diego area on the Fastrak as a solo with stickers, and do not have a transponder. The CHP just buzz by.
vroom

 

I drove in the HOV lane before my Prius stickers arrived. I also drove in it with my previous non-hybrid cars. And I did it legally.

Surprise. I am almost always driving with multiple people in the car when I drive.

And yes, the HOV lane decal entitlement thing does bug me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vroom @ Sep 18 2007, 05:15 PM) [snapback]514564[/snapback]</div>

The I-15 carpool lanes allow ANY solo drivers for a fee--and there are no toll booths to collect money. Carpool drivers are not required to have a transponder, and I have never heard anything about requiring solo hybrids to get a transponder. I guess each county has decided what rules they want to have for hybrids...

 

I waited for my stickers and one would never know I have a FasTrak transponder becasue I sprayed it semi-gloss balck and have it velcroed to my dash in front of the center speaker towards the windshield. You can't even see it unless you know it is there. I can't stand junk on the windshield and it transmits fine where I have it located.
I see poeple inthe car pool lane daily that don't belong. Typically they are the type of people one would expect to see violating the law- the same people who scream some sort of bias when they are stopped and ticketed. I say they get what they deserve.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(opus17 @ Sep 17 2007, 10:34 PM) [snapback]514166[/snapback]</div>

For plates that aren't personalized, California has a system which increments the digits and letters. My car arrived in September of last year. The licence plate begins with 5V. The newest plate I've seen on a Prius with an HOV sticker began with 5Y. Just yesterday I saw my first 6A plate. This is one way to identify cars which might have illegal stickers, with the exception someone else noted earlier, a used vehicle that already had HOV stickers and received new plates.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(deliman31 @ Jul 19 2007, 01:12 PM) [snapback]481655[/snapback]</div>

I haven't observed any enforcement of that, at least on 95/395. They may in fact be enforcing it, but I've seen hybrids with regular VA tags as well as the CY clean fuel plate (good on other Virginia HOV lanes but not 95/395) in the HOV lanes when the HOV-3 restriction is in place. Each time there's been a solo driver.

Maybe it's because they "blend"?

 

OK, I've held off commenting long enough. WHY DO YOU CARE! It's none of your business if someone else is breaking the law, other than to complain to a peace officer.

Why do single occupant SUVs drive in the HOV lane? Why do speeders use the HOV lane to pass?

Chill out, people!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(David Beale @ Sep 22 2007, 05:29 PM) [snapback]516329[/snapback]</div>

Because in California, these "carpool cheaters" have been known to cause accidents when darting back into regular traffic lanes upon seeing the cops. And stickerless hybrids are just as guilty!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(David Beale @ Sep 22 2007, 06:29 PM) [snapback]516329[/snapback]</div>

Ah, why do you care?

Chilling out is good advice. Perhaps someone using all caps might want to follow that advice, eh?

To get back on topic, many new Prius owners (or owners of other hybrids, or people thinking about getting a hybrid) visit PriusChat to become better informed about hybrid-related matters. It would be a shame if someone were to buy a hybrid in Northern Virginia for the sole or primary purpose of using the 95/395 HOV lanes during rush hour, only to find out after the purchase that the license plate they will be issued does not allow them to use those lanes - that they will not be able to use the "hybrid exception" to the HOV-3 requirement.

Even now, there may be people who have been illegally using the 95/395 HOV lanes but honestly did not know that they were. If they're reading this, now they know. and knowing is better than not knowing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bugmenot @ Sep 23 2007, 07:59 PM) [snapback]516723[/snapback]</div>

NAMES IN THE NEWS: HAM POLICE OFFICER INJURED IN THE LINE OF DUTY

A Southern California ham well known for his work in helping to remove repeater jammer Jack Gerritsen, the ex-KG6IRO, from the airwaves has been injured in a traffic accident. This with word that Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Burton Brink, N6USO, was hurt in an on-duty traffic collision the morning of June 6th.

The accident occurred when a driver tried to exit the carpool lane on the Interstate 10 freeway. Driving in a carpool lane requires two or more occupants in the vehicle. This driver was alone and according to a report from the San Gabriel Valley Radio Club, a California Highway Patrol unit was ahead when the driver tried to avoid a ticket for a carpool violation. The driver did not check for a clear lane and collided with Brink who was on motorcycle patrol.

N6USO was admitted to the County USC Medical Center in Los Angeles where it was determined that he had sustained multiple rib fractures, a punctured lung, and lacerated spleen, as well as associated road rash. His injuries, though serious, do not appear to be life threatening.

A career law enforcement officer, Burton Brink has been with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 1989. Prior to that he was an Officer with Monterey Park Police Dept. from 1982 to 1989, and an Arcadia Police Explorer Cadet from 1977 to 1982.

http://hamblog.kb3muz.com/2007/07/02/not-s...a-good-blogger/

Found this on a blogsite....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vroom @ Sep 17 2007, 04:30 PM) [snapback]513976[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mcbrunnhilde @ Sep 17 2007, 05:00 PM) [snapback]513994[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mcbrunnhilde @ Sep 18 2007, 05:38 PM) [snapback]514572[/snapback]</div>

The nine Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma) all require a "special" Fastrak transponder for Hybrids. It does NOT get you past tolls for free if you do not have the two or three occupants otherwise required. I don't understand WHY I need it at all, but I do, so I have it. I had a transponder for my previous car, but that one was not adequate, for whatever reason. The two transponders we have for our other cars are interchangeable, but we were told the one for the Pri is ONLY for the Pri. Why? Because they said so. (Remember Ernestine from Laugh In?) The stickers are ONLY for HOV use, not for tolls. Why it is that the Bay Area is the only part of California (that I know of) that requires the Fastrak transponders in addition, I don't exactly understand. But they do...We had the transponders WAAAY before we had the Pri--when the cash fare for the Golden Gate Bridge went up to $5 unless you have a transponder, in which case it's $4. It's only free for carpoolers (three occupants) from like 6-9am, and we rarely cross it during those hours. And now our son is away at school, we'll probably never have three in the car on that route anyway (which we use to get to the San Fran airport).

I was told the other day, however, that, in Lost Angeles (where I've been for about 10 days), hybrids, electric vehicles, etc. can park for free at meters. I do not know if it's true--I have disabled plates and I can park free at meters anyway. (That's PLATES, which are more difficult to get and lots harder to abuse than the hangers, so don't bug me! Yeah, I'm sensitive about this one--I get lots of rude gestures/comments from people who look for a hanger on the mirror don't look DOWN at the plates. I can't BEGIN to tell you how often I've wanted to whack people with my cane! Or sic littledog on their ankles...)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rufaro @ Sep 24 2007, 06:50 PM) [snapback]517203[/snapback]</div>

Owners of qualifying hybrids were required to have that FasTrak transponder before applying for the clean air stickers that allow access to the diamond lanes. A transponder is necessary or the vehicle would need to switch to some other lane to pay toll. As for why it needs to be a special hybrid transponder, here is the explanation from the FasTrak web page:

• A FasTrak® toll tag for hybrids is necessary for vehicles registered in the Bay Area. While solo hybrid drivers can take advantage of designated carpool-only lanes on those bridges that have them – the Bay Bridge, San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, Carquinez Bridge, and Dumbarton Bridge passage is not free, as it is for carpoolers and drivers of alternative fuel vehicles. Drivers of single-occupancy hybrid vehicles still must pay tolls when crossing these bridges – and all other toll bridges. On these bridges though, tolls can only be paid electronically by means of the special new hybrid FasTrak® toll tag. Because any eligible hybrid vehicle may use the carpool-only lanes on these bridges, all hybrids must be outfitted with these special devices. So, even hybrid drivers who do not regularly commute across a toll bridge must sign up for FasTrak® to use the carpool lanes.
  
  Note: If you already have FasTrak®, you will still need to obtain a new toll tag specially programmed for the carpool toll lanes.