Stop Driving for Mileage in HOV Lanes

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stilview @ May 30 2006, 05:20 PM) [snapback]263074[/snapback]</div>

Not me, but are you saying that in rush hour (stop and go traffic), they were only going the speed limit? Meaning that they were going 55-65 mph faster then the traffic? Don't know about anyone else, but I have been cut-off too many times by idiots who ignore the carpool lines and cut in whenever they feel like it.

Maybe we should start a thread to see how people perceive the HOV lane. I think most people feel it should be going at least as fast (or faster) then the fast lane. All I know is that I will do 70 max. No point in me getting a ticket just because someone wants to be Mario Andretti in the HOV lane.

 

i agree. for me personally if the speed limit posted is 55 thats the max ill do. its not just milage but saftey.

 

Boy it really depends. There are times when it's not safe to drive over 45 mph and there are times when you should be going 65+. If you hit the wall of stopped traffic in the slug lanes (when traffic first starts to really slow down) and you don't slow down, you are asking for it. This is typically when people dart over to the HOV lane. If traffic is moving at a normal flow as I believe the OP is insinuating, then drive with the flow of traffic, and don't drive for mileage.

I also slightly tailgate and drive only with my lights on, decreasing the dart over effect, at least in my experience.

 

get over it

 

I love to speed in the carpool lane. I'm going for ETA not MPG!

 

The speed limit is. That's all!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stilview @ May 30 2006, 05:20 PM) [snapback]263074[/snapback]</div>

Amen!

 

No doubt. I agree with the original poster. Don't impede the carpool lane. Here in my parts, the carpool lane runs at about 70km/h on avg during rush hour so the Prius can score great FE numbers and not piss off traffic. If you can't go as fast as the person in front of you, move back into the regular lanes. You might as well be the guy driving a late 80s Crown Victoria with the left blinker on in the fast lane if you're gunna slow poke in the carpool lane in rush hour

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cry4dawn @ May 30 2006, 05:37 PM) [snapback]263087[/snapback]</div>

I'm with you. It just amazes me how these fools pretend that the speed limit isn't really a law at all; instead, it's the "flow of traffic" that really matters.

 

I think it depends on what kind of HOV we're talking about.

If there's just one lane, and it's not separated from the regular lanes with a barrier, then the speed limit or slightly more is what I would do. Before the I-95 HOV lanes were extended in Virginia, the far left lane was made into a "diamond" lane, and it always made me a little nervous going too fast in that lane, given that other vehicles could pull over in front of you at any time. I always had my headlights on to make my vehicle more visible (in the days before daytime running lights were available).

Since the separate HOV lanes - two lanes, reversable, with barriers on both sides - were built on I-95, I go with the flow, and that means anywhere from 65 (the speed limit in the I-95 HOV lanes) to 75 or so. With two lanes, anyone driving a hybrid and going for mileage rather than speed should absolutely stay in the right lane.

Of course, with the Prius, I can have the best of both worlds. Pulse at the right time to 70-75, and then glide for a while ... depending on the traffic conditions at the time, of course.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ May 31 2006, 06:17 AM) [snapback]263339[/snapback]</div>

Oh ya, you are so right...and if everyone starts looting after a big Superbowl win, I am on that same street, I better start looting too. In both cases you are saying that as long as everyone is breaking the law, you had better too.

A lot of you act like you have never gotten a speeding ticket, when every car around you was going equally as fast as you were. The Highway Patrol/Police/Sheriff can and will pull you over for speeding, no matter if you are going 1 or 10 miles over the posted limit. Just one ticket is hundreds of dollars...eliminating months of fuel savings!

I agree that if you are in any lane other then the HOV or the Slow lane, and people are riding your tail, you should move over and let them be the foolish ones. However, the HOV lane was created for carpooling and to save the environment...which in both cases means that driving at a safer speed makes more sense. A vehicle with more passengers is harder to control (and to stop suddenly), and the faster you go the more fuel you burn...so driving the limit (or slightly faster) just makes the most sense. So, if the HOV lane was on the far RIGHT instead of the far LEFT, would people still treat it as a "super fast" lane? All of the super speeders just have to get over it!

 

Sure, this falls on deaf eyes, but I'll write it anyway.

The speed limit signs that say 'minimum' are the only ones where the number displayed should be exceeded.

All other LIMIT signs are a maximum, and only fools make excuses why they should go a lot faster than that.

Fools, morons, people whose drivers licences should be seized. Dolts, dimwits, pick something you consider really insulting and pretend I used that term.

Repeating a lie an infinite number of times does not turn it into a truth. Stop telling people that the lawbreakers determine the rules of the road.

We now return you to your delusions of driving competence...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(too tall @ May 30 2006, 07:42 PM) [snapback]263091[/snapback]</div>

I've been driving in the 101HOV lane for more than 10 years now and totally agree with you. When in the lane I catch up to whomever is in front of me and then follow close enough to discourage anyone cutting in, but not so close to annoy the driver in front. Lights are always on to increase visability. In all these years I've only had to really hit the brakes hard a few times.

I've found that the people that have the most problems are the ones that leave too big a gap between them and the next car in front. That gives drivers coming into the lane a space that looks inviting, but usually causes the HOV car to have to slow down drastically.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mssmith95 @ May 31 2006, 10:19 AM) [snapback]263357[/snapback]</div>

I agree with you for the most part, but you usually won't get pulled over unless you are going over 10mph. In the past, I would speed a lot and have probably been stopped for speeding a dozen times at least - sometimes I got off, other times I got tickets. Never, have I been stopped for going 10mph over the speed limit. Well.. I did once, by a total prick of a copy and I fought it and won. But every other time, it's been over 10mph at least. I even got stopped once by a cop, in front of his house and I was going 36 in a 25. He told me to keep it under 35 and he'd never give me trouble.

Ok.. so, regardless of the above, if the speed limit is 55mph and someone is going 55mph, that's fine and I would never ask them to go faster. Noone ever has to go above the posted limit and in many local roads, it's even fine to stay a bit under.

 

I don't care who you are, what highway or what you are driving. When the traffic behind you wants to go faster you should move to a slower lane if possible. It is just a matter of SAFTY FIRST

 

the speed limit in HOV lanes should be treated as MINIMUM speed limit. Don't be a rolling road block.

 

Quote: "the speed limit in HOV lanes should be treated as MINIMUM speed limit." Try telling that to the patrolman who is writing your "moving violation" ticket... and to the Judge if you try to appeal the ticket.

A LIMIT is a LIMIT is a LIMIT. Some signs do post a MINIMUM speed. Funny how some folks attempt to re-write the law to suit their own convenience.