(Moved) California Carpool lanes and lollygagging drivers

If you keep it under 65 you get better mpg

 

So what types of cars are you passing? What route?
There are definitely people that drive it slower, and it can lead to some serious road rage if they are below the posted limit. My last visit to Cali my cousins were driving in the HOV on the 10, and were 2 cars back from a gen-1 prius (kind with a trunk) and someone doing maybe 5 below the limit. The BMW between us and the Prius was maybe 2-3 feet off their bumper flashing lights and even using the horn. The Prius driver slowed down even ore and my cousins backed off and commented that things like that could get ugly. We got off in about 5 miles so did not see how it resolved.

 

I live in Sacramento and it just drives me wacko people driving in the car pool lane slow...duhhhh what is the goal of driving in that lane if you are going the speed of the other 4 lanes?

 

FWIW, some Leafers (like the guy at My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Stuck behind a Leaf in HOV lane) seem to have the attitude of refusing to go faster that the speed limit in the HOV lanes and to hell w/the people piling about behind them. That guy is in freaking LA (I went to college down there and sometimes visit). He's just asking for road rage.

I did chime in later in that thread telling people to not do that unless they want the Leaf to be the same lightning rod of misplaced hate that the Prius has become.

 

When in the HOV lane I do the speed limit. Do you define that as slow? When not in the HOV I drive slower 55-60, usually far right, or in second lane from right. I have had drivers barrel down behind me and then get frustrated because they cannot drive thru me, because there is a huge open lane right in front of me and they want it. It never occurs to these drivers WHY all that open space is there. Yes if you are in the HOV lane at least do the speed limit , with one caveat, If all the traffic is creeping along, I will not blithely drive 65, at any moment someone could pull into my lane. So, there could be a really authentic reason why the slow poke is driving 35 in the HOV lane, it may be because he is being cautious.

 

^^^
I do agree about the need for caution if the the HOV is flying and the rest of the traffic is creeping along. When I was working in CA and the few times I used my yellow HOV stickers (when the were valid), I kept a reasonable enough pace in the HOV lane that I didn't see any frustration behind me.

 

It's a carpool/HOV lane not the "exceed the speed limit lane". Just cause its open doesn't mean its alright to do 75+.

65-70 is my normal speed when in the carpool lane, 2 years ago we responded to a call where a Camry cut into the carpool lane during a break in the line doing 40 and was hit by an Impala doing what CHP said was approx. 80mph. The Impala driver was pronounced at scene and the driver of the Camry was airlifted to the trauma catchment.

Thankfully the carpool lanes down here on the 15 are enclosed with openings every few miles and 2 lanes in each direction under normal driving which they can change to 3 South 1 North or vice versa depending on traffic flow similar to the Coronado Bridge and from what i've heard, the 5 is heading to that design as well.

 

Nope.
But the nearest HOV lane is two states away from me.

It's amazing how a little bit of money can alter a person's sense of entitlement.
Yeah, I know. I don't live in SOCAL (thank GOD!) and they can do whatever they want to with their HOV lanes as far as I'm concerned, but I cannot help but to be a little tickled by a few things that stand out to me in the whole HOV lane thing.
For gezample:
"PS: if you're one of these dawdlers and I blow past you in the white-open zone, I'm just exercising my hard earned dollars spent for this PHEV for the right to DO that!"

It's an HOV lane folks. HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE.
Meaning: If you're not on a M/C, then there should be more than one PAX in the vehicle.
Now Dianne is a pretty good poster, and I'm not picking on her in particular---or at least I don't mean to. If she's highly successful and earns good coin at her gig, then society should reward this behavior by allowing her to buy a more expensive car than 5-figure a year phone fixers like me.
No problem!
I don't even have much heartburn with folks buying tax-payer subsidized, "greener" vehicles and being able to utilize the HOV lane (which IIRC, was set up to save energy!)
No problem with that either!

However (comma!) even though it's been a number of years since I've been forced to drive in SOCAL, I presume that the intent of the HOV lanes is still to squirt you through the morning logj-am of traffic towards your daily destination at a faster pace than those us common schlubs that either cannot afford a "blessed car" or who do not want to inconvenience ourselves with the whole carpool gig.
I don't recall that it provides, either by law or by practice, some sort of blessing to go PSL+.

I'm kinda liking the idea of a private toll lane. You pay money. You get to use a less crowded road.
In practice.....it's the same thing as buying a certain kind of new car to avoid having to commute with the "common folk".
This would short some of the hypocrisy of the current setup to ground, aaaaand you could roll some of the profits into the state debt.
Or....if you're one of the real greenies out there, you could generate a special lane to reward people who want to roll a little greener than the rest of us. Just don't call it an HOV lane. That's been tried. There could be a toll lane whose profits go into green R/D.....or land reclamation...or buying carbon offsets if you're into the AGW thing.
Sorry !
Again......no offence intended!
I'm just a bit of a tough sell on the notion that buying a EV/PHEV grants one the right to go PSL+ on a specially designated roadway...kinda like the center lanes used to be used for in good old Moscow...

 

Go out to riverside, ca where the HOV is the speed lane. Everyone is driving solo and speeding in the HOV lane. I drive 70 in the HOV lane, but avoid it at all costs. Unless traffic is severely jammed, then I'll take the HOV lane.

People in SoCal are so entitled. I'm 40 years old. Drove from 16-28 with no accidents. Moved to California. I've had 5 accidents. Rear ended 3 times. Sideswiped by a kid racing on the Los Angeles Crest. Sideswiped by a ghetto queen with no tag on the 105. Every time I get hit, they say it's my fault. I bought a great little video camera for my next accident SmartCam HD Car DVR 720P Dashcam, Driving Recorder. HDMI! 2.0 LCD! UK SELLER! | eBay

 

I sometimes drive south on 5 from Del Mar to the split in the diamond lane. Generally, it's because the other lanes are moving slowly and I'm in a hurry. At other times, if all lanes are moving at 65-75 MPH, there's no need to hit the diamond lane.

It is a far different game when the speed differential between the diamond lane and the #1 lane is significant - that is, more than 30 mph. Without some kind of physical barrier to separate the much faster traffic from the stop and go traffic, it's an accident waiting to happen. Especially when idiots decide to use the diamond lane as a passing lane.

 

It is the law here in calif that slow drivers must keep to the right. There are signs everywhere, usually near speed limit signs. So if you are traveling 75mph and another car comes up behind going 80 mph move over. Traveling 65 mph in HOV and cars backed up behind you is as illegal as speeding. You should move over when safe, let cars pass then move back.

 

now matter how fast you're going?

 

This is true, but how does it apply to the SOCAL HOV lanes that have the double white? Up here in Norcal we have single lines. If the traffic on the right is moving a decent clip I usually stay out of the HOV lane when someone comes up behind, but when it gets to stop and go coming up on a bridge or something I tend to slow to the speed limit (CHP up this way love to lurk in the #2 lane looking for reasons to pull people over in the #1 (Carpool) lane) just because 75 feels very unsafe when there is a wall of cars on the right hand side of you with people merging in and out.

 

They can't give you a ticket for driving the speed limit in any lane except maybe the "passing lane"...that will be harder to stick in court than a ticket for someone doing 80mph and most cops won't pursue it since the fine is minimal if it sticks vs. a Basic Speed Law violation.

 

But does this law really include the HOV lanes, or just the general purpose lanes?

In my state, the HOV lanes are specifically excluded from the slower-traffic-keep-right law. And in the 15 years I carpooled and often used that lane, traffic was mostly sticking very close to the speed limit. Some (usually single occupant cheaters) tried to use it as an 'extra-fast' lane, but the critical mass of legitimate users and slightly slower transit buses usually discouraged them. Those who wanted to go much faster (and were unwilling to use the shoulder, which some did ), needed to share the same regular 'fast lane' as the unprivileged SOVs (single occupant vehicles). This worked for me, I had no problem switching lanes to get around the few slowpokes. On this route, in-service transit buses always obeyed the speed limit.

My regular carpool days ended a decade ago, so I may have missed some cultural changes since.

 

So if I'm going 70 in a 65 in the car pool lane and there are cars behind me I can get a ticket for going too slow?

 

No, I don't believe you would get a ticket for going too slow -- because the carpool lane is generally not considered the "left-hand" lane or "fast" lane. The following is from Washington state, but I suspect other states' rules are similar. Not sure what happens if the state you live in is not explicit about it.

"

(3) No vehicle towing a trailer or no vehicle or combination over ten thousand pounds may be driven in the left-hand lane of a limited access roadway having three or more lanes for traffic moving in one direction except when preparing for a left turn at an intersection, exit, or into a private road or driveway when a left turn is legally permitted. This subsection does not apply to a vehicle using a high occupancy vehicle lane. ​

A high occupancy vehicle lane is not considered the left-hand lane of a roadway.​

The department of transportation, in consultation with the Washington state patrol, shall adopt rules specifying (a) those circumstances where it is permissible for other vehicles to use the left lane in case of emergency or to facilitate the orderly flow of traffic, and (b) those segments of limited access roadway to be exempt from this subsection due to the operational characteristics of the roadway."​

 

I'll do a few mph over the limit but that is about it. If the traffic is slow in the next lane I'll go even slower. I see people cut into the HOV lanes everyday and I'm not about to get hit by one of them.

The other morning I was doing 70 and a car comes racing up to me. After a little bit the car crosses the double line to pass me. I look over and it was a guy by himself with his phone to his ear, no how many laws did he break and how much would the fines be if he got caught ?

 

There are two different speed violations in play: exceeding the posted speed limit and unsafe speed. You can be cited for either.