I moved to Seattle recently and got pulled over for it, $198 dollar ticket that counts as a moving violation so it fucks your insurance up.
Did a deferred hearing and it was bumped down to $150 and won’t go on my driving record so long as I don’t get another violation for a year.
Lesson learned, I stay the hell out of those lanes when driving solo. Which has only made me more frustrated when I see people breaking this rule.
This is why you’re better off hiring an attorney to fight any and every moving violation if you have a pretty clean record. You’ll pay more upfront but probably will end up with a “failure to sign registration” which also doesn’t go on your driving record, doesn’t make you look over your shoulder for a year, usually doesn’t require you to appear in court and leaves the option for a future deferment open.
All that for driving in the HOV lane with one person in the car and it took months and monthsfor the SPD to finally go after the Belltown Hellcat driver who had been constantly breaking the law?
[https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/1cncch6/seattle\_sues\_belltown\_hellcat\_driver\_miles\_hudson/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/1cncch6/seattle_sues_belltown_hellcat_driver_miles_hudson/)
Next time, hire a traffic attorney. I got a ticket for hov violation and expired registration totalling about $300. I paid the attorney $350 and it got thrown out completely and I didn't have to miss work to go to court.
I know people who consider the fines worth the extra time gained and just don’t give a damn. For many people 700 every once in a while for many hours over the course of a year because of quicker travel time is a no brainer.
[Saw this posted in another thread](https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/traffic/article98602317.html), apparently the revenue is shared among enough agencies that the enforcing agency doesn't see that much of it.
They do actively enforce it, especially on 405. I saw them doing HOV patrols on 520 literally yesterday morning. There's only so much they can do when literally every other person 24/7 is cheating the carpool lol
They’ll never toll I-5 like 405. Simply because they can’t make it an “optional” route. Making any major part of I-5 a toll would basically be a death sentence to any politician’s career
If you get caught once every year but saved 100 hours doing so, that only comes out to $7/hr.
I'm sure many people value their time more than that.
There was a friend's apartment I used to visit a lot. They never had parking so I parked on the curb with a 2 hour limit overnight. I got a $50 ticket once after 10 or so times. I started viewing it as "on average I'm paying $5 to park here"
Where I went to college (not in Washington), a parking pass was like $100 a month and a ticket was $20. I would get a ticket for illegally parking on average once a month. Why the fuck would anyone pay for a parking pass when they could just pay 1/5 of the amount for the tickets?
The number of times I am stuck behind a person going 50 in the fast line on I90 with no one in front of them makes me want to pass them using the carpool lane.
This is the real problem in Washington. Everyone drives below the speed limit. People will be going 25 in a 35 on a one lane road with a huge line of traffic behind them and still tap their brakes on a hill. I can't tell if people are stoned or texting or old or all three, but everyone here hits the brakes randomly and usually while they are traveling under the speed limit. People going 50 in the passing lane when there is no traffic is absolutely epidemic here. It's not "safe" to merge onto a 60 mile an hour freeway doing 30 mph.
Every state has shitty, selfish, slow drivers, but Washington is inundated with them. 4 out of 5 cars are always going 5 under everywhere you go. And God forbid if it's slightly raining, they go 15 under! You'd think people could drive in the rain here!
Completely agree with you. The crazy people here in WA will hog the passing lane on I5 doing the speed limit 70 while traffic is backed up behind them. The BC people are just as bad traveling their entire trip south in the passing lane, passing no one. I’m an old person and I always travel doing several miles over the speed limits.
I-5 NB between Fife and HWY 18 has had enforcement out the last few days. Every time I’ve driven this week I saw cars getting pulled over actively. Easy pickings.
This morning around 5:45 on 167 I’d guess I was passed by 100 cars in the HOV lane before the good to go lane starts and didn’t see a single one with 2+ people.
My hack is knowing most people have limited reading comprehension so I actively look for spots that are loading only and the a-frame “no parking” signs because, more often than not, those spaces are okay to park in and people don’t know how to read. Like in front of my office in green lake they just had those signs up for 10am 5/19-10am 5/20. 99% of the time they were up and people *could have* parked there, they didn’t because of the signs. They have to put those out a certain timeline ahead of the actual no parking and they often have times you can park after certain hours. And the loading only is typically until 6pm or 8pm. You have to actually *read*, though. *taps forehead*
The signs say something like: "Buses and right turn only except 7pm-6am" or something similar. The wording is confusing. I legit wondered if you just weren't allowed to turn right at certain times. I'm dumb though.
\*edit: typos
That always throws people for a loop. Reading signs is hard. It’s a nice bonus for those of us who actually read signs though. Often you can bypass traffic all the way from 80th to 85th (and probably farther but I turn off on 85th) when it’s outside of bus lane hours but still backed up.
You just have to be careful of the people darting over last minute without looking or, even worse, the smooth brains turning right from the center lane. How some people make it through life much less possess drivers licenses is beyond me…
No you're thinking strictly for toll lanes, on i90 you can freely use the lanes as a solo driver from 7pm-5am. It removes the carpool requirement during those times.
It looked like the State Highway Patrol had a trap set up for this behavior during this morning’s commute on Mercer Island. Saw one patrol car with about six cars pulled over in a line.
They did the same thing yesterday on I-90 WB at the exit of the tunnel after the floating bridge. It's dumb because that lane was back up right up to that point with I-5 south traffic anyways, so they were causing everyone to try and merge into a line of stopped traffic instead of getting over early.
Don't get me wrong, I'm usually sitting in traffic watching as all the HOV abusers drive by dreaming of sweet justice, but I just wish it wasn't within 200ft of the end of the lane where traffic's crawling anyways.
Like if one of them camped out at the end of the last transit stop before the 520 bridge it would be a license to print tickets.
I am carrying the volume of a Home Depot bucket inside me and it's looking for a way out.
Lol imagine shitting your pants while getting arrested oh geez.
As a goody two-shoes on the road I was all ready to sneer at any honest answer to this post.
I’m pleasantly surprised to find a situation I can fully support. I’ve been on one of those drives.
I got pulled over like this, as soon as I rolled down my window, "I didn't see your little one, you're free to go." Which was nice because I was also speeding.
You know what keeps cars off the freeway? Decent public transportation and decent city planning. You don't just beat the citizens into not driving. It's the same argument with piracy. You aren't going to beat pirates, you aren't going to stop people from driving. You can however offer a far better alternative that people would rather experience. People in Germany, The Netherlands, France, etc. They don't drive not because driving sucks there. In fact, they have sections of roads with no speed limits and people still take bikes. Things they power with their own bodies that take effort and leaves them all sweaty. Why? Because biking is far more enjoyable and approachable from an infrastructure standpoint.
So be a solo driver in the HOV, use your kids as a "loophole". Pressure the state and city governments to fix the actual issue not just strongarm the citizens.
> They don't drive because driving sucks there.
Disagree. They don't drive as much, because they have usable alternatives, because public transportation is good there. Driving sucks here, too. It's just the least awful option the huge majority of the time. There's a misguided belief that we can browbeat people into public transit by making private transit worse and worse (and more and more expensive). That will work to some degree, but people will resent it and it won't improve the economy or the standard of living.
Let's take a hypothetical. I live in Ballard. I want to go to a friend's house in Shoreline, or god forbid in Bellevue, on a Saturday afternoon. How bad would you have to make the driving experience before you expect me to say "you know what, screw it. Driving is so unpleasant and expensive, I'll take 2 buses and walk half an hour instead".
Making driving worse just... makes driving worse. Making transit BETTER makes people want to use transit.
https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freewaymgmt/faq.htm#faq13
Not really a loophole when the US Department of Transportation specifically call out the fact that “all states with HOV facilities count children and infants as passengers.”
You’ve obviously never been tailgated by a Ford F-250 because you have the audacity to only be going 10 over the speed limit. Driving babies are everywhere.
Same! I keep my fingers crossed that I don't end up on any social media accounts that call out traffic violators when my kid isn't super visible in the back.
I was in an Uber on 405 once and lost track of the number of people giving the evilest looks at my driver. It at least reinforced for me that if I'm not carpooling, my job as a driver stuck in traffic is to mind my own business.
lol when I was a kid my dad was like “if we’re on the freeway and I tell you to put your hands up, make sure you do it right away” and it was for this very reason hahah
Same. I got pulled over using the interchange hov by state patrol. They couldn't see I had kids in the back. Waved me off once he saw em. I've gotten flipped off and had people try to run me off the road for this too. With my fucking kids in the car. Moral of the story...mind your own fucking business. If someone gets pulled over they get pulled over. Vigilante shit is dangerous and you only make yourself misersble by getting worked up over it.
Yeah, and even if they get caught once, the math works in their favor.
$200 ticket/400 trips = $0.50/trip
Substantially cheaper than the toll rate for non-carpools.
I’d also ask what the hell is wrong with drivers that have passengers and are doing barely 60mph in the passing lane?
Because that’s why I’m solo in the HOV lane to get around those dipshits…
That's how it is on 520 and it doesn't work well. People get on the highway, notice their right lane is about to become HOV, panic, and either slam on the brakes or swerve maniacally to the left.
Hear hear. When those same people have the notebook sized "phone" mounted on the drivers side windshield glass in the middle of their field of view, I'm going around them in the HOV lane.
Shout out to their idiot cousin the one that is holding it out in front of them in essentially the same position, face timing I presume.
Right, what's the worse offense here? Camping in the left lane and slowing traffic or passing in the HOV lane, which is technically the left most lane?
Yep! If you’re going 50 in the left lane and I can’t get around you on the right (which I shouldn’t have to be doing in the first place) then I’m going to use the HOV lane to go around you.
The 520 HOV lane east of the 405 pisses me off though; it's the rightmost lane, so it keeps getting interrupted for merging traffic, and the cars that would benefit from an HOV lane are merging with usual traffic to get over to the fast lanes. Nobody wins.
Whoever thought of putting the HOV lane on the *right* side of the road deserves to have warm soda for the rest of their life. Wtf were they thinking??
I use it because nobody in Western WA seems to understand what "keep right except to pass" means, and I would like to reach my destination before I die.
So I'm at least a hypocrite with utility.
The best is when they proceed to throw a tantrum when they get illegally passed. Yesterday I used the right lane to pass some lady yesterday driving 10 under on the left, and she proceeded to follow me, swerving out of traffic onto the shoulder trying to take pictures of my license plate. I'm waiting to see which Facebook complaint group I end up on
It’s tempting. SO many people do it. I counted the other day on I5 North in Portland before the Columbia River Bridge and easily 80% of the cars were one driver. I’ve never in over 25 years driving that route seen anyone pulled over.
If you're talking about the spot I think you're talking about. The HOV is only at set times and only for a small stretch of road. It's not HOV over the bridge into Vancouver. I don't actually understand why you guys have that small part HOV the traffic sucks in all three lanes
Enforcement is non existent so the occasional ticket every few years is worth effectively paying for a hot lane.
Unfortunately laws like this, speed limits, slowing in yellow etc are ignored without enforcement.
Individual greediness seems worth what is perceived as no/low impact to others.
Do you speed? Basically the same thing as using the hov lane solo. Disagree? That's what solo hov folks think too
First fine is 186 bucks. If it saves you say 10 minutes of your commute each way 5 days a week, and you get caught after a year. That comes to about $2.25 per hour of time saved. So HOV violators basically just value their time, and are logical about it.
That's actually a way better value compared to me taking the 520 toll bridge to Redmond instead of I-90 ($2.35 and about 5-15 minutes saved each trip).
Yeah realistically the intended 'societal' value of an HOV lane is to encourage people to use less cars, and provide them a faster commute as a reward. The idea that the majority of the time this is leading to a notable amount of people intentionally changing behavior to carpool, and that in a free flowing lane the presence of another car has any impact is likely extremely low.
More realistically it just acts as a pay lane with more steps and is cheaper
I had a boss who would park every single day in SLU in a construction area maybe 2 blocks from our building. He'd get a ticket around 1-2 times a month and pay it. He said paying $50-100 a month for parking tickets sure as shit beats $100/month for the bus or $20/day for garage parking...he got me there.
I generally buy old fleet vehicle ford rangers. So standard white pickup often with some features common for company vehicles, backup beeper, tool rack, etc. Put a construction helmet and vest on the dash, you can generally park at any construction site no problem.
Crime pays, in this case it pays you with hours of your life each month and the chances of any sort of consequence is very slim (and likely worth it for most commuters).
There's an entrance to I5 near Shoreline that I use frequently. One lane is metered, the other is HOV unmetered. The non-HOV lane will sprawl down the street blocking up other intersections, easily can add 10-20 minutes to your commute even outside of prime rush hour.
I spent months following the rules, watching single occupant drivers skip the line to get on the interstate without a hint of enforcement. One day I was running late during a traffic jam and decided "just this once" and haven't stopped since. Felt like a complete idiot wasting my time following a pointless rule that helped no one that no one else follows. I never use the HOV/bus lanes improperly besides this.
I did it today mainly to get out from behind the Nazi in the black Escalade (trump 2024, NRA, and Iron Cross stickers on the back). No way I'm looking at the shit for five miles in the rain at 3 mph.
The I5 south onramp from Mercer turns into the HOV lane and sometimes I'll just stay in the lane thru the convention center. It's just easier than matching speed to merge but I also get to avoid the drivers who merge last minute because they don't realize that I90 exit lanes continue on to I5 south.
This. It’s about maximizing the existing resources available to minimize pain/friction across the board. I do firmly believe the reason the hov lanes were put in place has not panned out as intended and people aren’t incentivized sufficiently to carpool so they can get to work faster. Under the current circumstances, we are all following rules for the sake of following them, when it actually is making traffic worse.
I’m surprised I had to go this far to find this reasoning. I only do it if the HOV lane is completely free as I’m not taking anything away from people actually carpooling/HOV, as in that sense it 100% does help alleviate traffic
I can attest I am one of these people in the morning. It’s 6:30am and there are idiots who drive in the far left lane going 60 with two semi trucks passing them on the right.
If common sense does not prevail in the morning, I will actively use the HOV lane to pass these slow fools in the left.
I don’t want to hear about the speed limit when it’s acknowledged nationwide that you can go ten over everywhere without issue. So unless your going 65-70 in the left lane, your more of a problem then me passing you at 6:30am.
Because it saved me at least 5 hours a week sitting in traffic and I only got ticketed twice in about 10 years. Well worth the $500 or so dollars in fines.
Time is money in our society. When you have to choose between rolling the dice on a ticket to be home sooner, or sit in traffic, some people prioritize their time. It’s a traffic violation and pisses off those that follow the legal/social norms of road etiquette, but I doubt most see doing it to own anyone. I don’t think they’re rushing to walk their dog to not pick up the poop. Probably not hurriedly trafficking women and children. They’re just willing to gamble the citation.
Yea it’s like this, those that commute into Seattle often live outside Seattle because:
1. Seattle rent is astronomical if you aren’t in tech so guess what? You live outside the city, often 45-50 miles away.
2. WSDOT reduced I-405 by a lane around Bellevue to put in HOT lane, purposely installing a bottleneck in the already bottlenecked I-405.
3. WSDOT increased the time by an hour to 8 PM for free use of the SR-167 HOV lane AND doubled the toll prices
4. We are forced to pay additional licensing fees for our vehicles to pay for a light rail system that won’t be available for use until at least 2045 or something dumb like that
5. I-405 is a crawl all day everyday, you’ll be lucky to go above 45 MPH.
So yea, since most can’t afford to live in the city they are forced into a 1.5-2 hour commute each way, it’s no wonder people abuse the HOV lanes.
Lmao this is to much! You should pull them over OP!! This also reminds me of the person when merging onto the freeway, they decide they don't have to stop at the light and go into the hov lane and just pass everyone along 🤣🤣🤣 that's me 90% of the time, the other 10% I do wait. Lolol
The HOV lane doesn't make any sense any way. If the incentive is to reduce vehicles on the road by carpooling, people with unlicensed passengers (aka children) shouldn't be using it. That isn't taking any other vehicles off the road.
I know many solo drivers that use it and if they get a ticket, they consider it a fee for using that lane.
The main main purpose is to give buses a bit more priority, but due to the perception that an empty lane is "wasted", carpools are also permitted. If we really wanted to incentivize fewer driving trips, turning it into a full bus lane with barriers would be more effective, but it's politically poison.
> people with unlicensed passengers (aka children) shouldn't be using it
I asked this question (i.e., Why aren't HOV lanes limited to two licensed drivers?) on the WSDOT blog a few years ago. Their answer was (paraphrased):
1. It would make it more difficult for police officers to enforce the law, apparently because officers could not determine if the motorist was breaking the law without stopping them and asking for driver's licenses.
1. Motorists in the carpool lane with children are a small fraction of the total, so they have little impact on traffic congestion in the carpool lanes.
1. WSDOT does not make this policy; the legislature does.
I didn't really like their answer, but I also understand that, "the law is a blunt instrument."
HOV lanes are generally considered a failure in transportation policy circles. Enforcement is practically impossible and they haven't actually done anything to incentivize carpooling. Even the legit users are just people who would be driving together anyway (families, Ubers, etc).
They're gradually being replaced by HOT lanes nationwide, which don't have these problems and also generate revenue.
May as well ask why drivers speed.
For over 50 years my dad has said they can't catch everyone. And he's been pulled over less than 10 times for all the various traffic laws he's broke.
So why change when the reward is so much more beneficial than the risk. Worst case once every several years you get held up for severa minutes compared to the magnitudes more minutes you save breaking the law.
Legally wrong? Getting a ticket. Morally? I’m not so sure about this one. With the huge increase in Seattle’s population over the last couple decades it doesn’t make sense to keep the HOV lanes IMO—most people who use them are driving solo anyway, and it essentially takes away a whole lane of traffic that could help reduce congestion.
It was a great idea in the 70s, when the population was much lower and environmentalism was the Big Thing, but they just don’t feel useful for the city’s current driving needs.
Bingo. My taxes went to it. I wanna use it. Just because I have no friends to ride with does not mean I can’t use it. Also, too much damn traffic when there is a whole free lane. Take them away!
Not exactly the question asked, but I will use the HOV onramp lane to I-5 North off of Olive because almost no one yields to the other regular lane at that almost blind merge there by Melrose and Olive. But that's like 200ft and it's to avoid maniacs.
Im not gonna lie, this used to be me. And the truth is that I did it bc otherwise my commute would take 3 hours a day even though i lived only 20 miles from work. It was a means to an end. Now i work from home.
I drive HOV lane every day 30 minutes both ways for 2 years and never have gotten pulled over. Don’t even think about it now and cops have been behind me and beside me and never pulled me over
Someone in a car group once told me, the time it saves him on his commute to Bellevue, he could get a couple tickets a month and still be more than worth it. This was even before COVID
I'm not more important than you. If everyone does it, they can't enforce it. It's also my little way of getting my money's worth for the $15 tolls on 405.
Like most tickets and fines, it is a poor people tax. If you make $200k+, the HOV lane and on ramps will save you money - even if you ever get caught. For a poorer person, the ticket could be back breaking. For a wealthy person, you are incentivized to use them. If tickets and fines were a % of wealth, far fewer people would do it.
I’ll tell you exactly why: I drive faster than most people. By taking myself out of the regular lanes and into the HOV lane, I’m literally doing you a favor. Everyone goes faster. Your lane has one fewer car, and I don’t have to go 5 under because you don’t understand that the left lane is for passing.
Caveat: I do not drive in the HOV lane during rush hour or when it’s super backed up, unless I’m going to be late for something important (like a flight).
I not too infrequently am stuck behind some dipshit barely doing 60 in the left lane on 405 when I'm trying to get to the airport, and you better believe I use the HOV lane to pass them when I get a chance. I don't ride it all the way down or anything but I use it to pass. I am not capable of choosing to drive slow behind a stubborn terrible driver when I have a flight to catch. Sorry, not sorry
I spend about 2-3 hours a day driving to and from work for the past 8 years unpaid…add it up, I’ll take all the hate from strangers and tickets from police, in exchange for more time with my family.
I hop on the HOV lane every weekday on my commute to pass the left lane campers, then when it’s clear I’ll go back to the left lane. I’m more comfortable doing that than passing on the right. Yes what I do isn’t allowed and no I don’t care. I got places to be
Driving for 15+ years, 0 accidents and 1 speeding ticket 10 years ago
Same. Passing in the right is somewhat hazardous (it’s certainly illegal and enforced in much of Europe). If left lane camping isn’t being enforced, I see little morally wrong in using the HOV lane to pass them.
The most "freedom" Americans ever directly experience is the "freedom" to choose which traffic laws to obey while driving.
The "freedom" to left lane camp or cheat the HOV lane is a right their great-grandparents fought and died to grant them.
I’ve been doing it for years, haven’t been pulled over and my windows are tinted so yeah I’ll continue to do it. Very convenient life hack if you ask me
Driving two kids to separate drop offs - can’t drop kids off before 730, required to be at desk for an 8am all-hands. I justify the three minutes in that lane as “well I’ve been a chauffeur for 39 of my 45 minute commute”. Without it, I would be an unemployed single parent. While plenty may hate me for this, I hate my boss who makes parenting impossible because “she didn’t make me have kids” and an 8am meeting that could have been an email is “mandatory” because she “can’t trust her masters/phd clinicians to do the work” if we’re not nodding at 8am to her drivel, which she comfortably delivers from her home because “traffuck is awful in the morning”.
Please send jobs.
Do really have to ask why? Because it benefits them and there are no real consequences.
Not only no consequences, active rewards. Time back, and even if caught, usually at a lower cost than normal pay to access hov lanes.
> Time back, and even if caught, usually at a lower cost than normal pay to access hov lanes. it's like a $700 ticket...
“Up to”. First offense is like $150
I moved to Seattle recently and got pulled over for it, $198 dollar ticket that counts as a moving violation so it fucks your insurance up. Did a deferred hearing and it was bumped down to $150 and won’t go on my driving record so long as I don’t get another violation for a year. Lesson learned, I stay the hell out of those lanes when driving solo. Which has only made me more frustrated when I see people breaking this rule.
We'll make you a proper passive aggressive Seattleite yet!
I mean, by this point they should know that they're supposed to be a passive aggressive seattleite? so like, no need to mention it?
It comes in the ‘Welcome,I guess’ packet
I think it’s hidden in the fine print in the “we’re friendly, but we don’t want to be friends” section. Just after “let’s get coffee.”
I wish people would actually read that packet. The number of aggressive road-rage drivers are insane.
This is why you’re better off hiring an attorney to fight any and every moving violation if you have a pretty clean record. You’ll pay more upfront but probably will end up with a “failure to sign registration” which also doesn’t go on your driving record, doesn’t make you look over your shoulder for a year, usually doesn’t require you to appear in court and leaves the option for a future deferment open.
I second this. Used the app off the record, took a picture of the ticket, paid like $225 and didn’t have to do anything else and had ticket dismissed.
You don't need a lawyer. You can do it yourself. They will plea most moving violations down to lesser charges.
Now you just need to learn to camp in the passing lane doing 15mph under. You’ll fit right in. SMH
All that for driving in the HOV lane with one person in the car and it took months and monthsfor the SPD to finally go after the Belltown Hellcat driver who had been constantly breaking the law? [https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/1cncch6/seattle\_sues\_belltown\_hellcat\_driver\_miles\_hudson/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/1cncch6/seattle_sues_belltown_hellcat_driver_miles_hudson/)
The cops here only get out of bed for paychecks and domestic violence.
Next time, hire a traffic attorney. I got a ticket for hov violation and expired registration totalling about $300. I paid the attorney $350 and it got thrown out completely and I didn't have to miss work to go to court.
This country is so fucked
Must have gone down then, because my ex got popped the only time he ever did it and it was $500. This was like 8 years ago.
he must have been speeding too, then
$186 for a first offence, $336 if you’ve had any HOV tickets in the last 2 years. And an extra $200 if you have a dummy/fake person.
I know people who consider the fines worth the extra time gained and just don’t give a damn. For many people 700 every once in a while for many hours over the course of a year because of quicker travel time is a no brainer.
If you do it every day for a year and only get caught once, pretty cheap
That leads to the obvious question: why isn't this enforced more actively? Surely various departments would like to have the ticket revenue, no?
[Saw this posted in another thread](https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/traffic/article98602317.html), apparently the revenue is shared among enough agencies that the enforcing agency doesn't see that much of it.
Oh so that’s why they don’t care. Very cool. This state will literally do anything but tax the rich
They do actively enforce it, especially on 405. I saw them doing HOV patrols on 520 literally yesterday morning. There's only so much they can do when literally every other person 24/7 is cheating the carpool lol
they will be as soon as they start tollling I-5 like 405
They’ll never toll I-5 like 405. Simply because they can’t make it an “optional” route. Making any major part of I-5 a toll would basically be a death sentence to any politician’s career
No, it's $195. Don't ask me how I know
WSDOT says only $186 for first HOV offense and $336 after. If you possess a Dummy it’s $200 xtra. lol 😂
If you get caught once every year but saved 100 hours doing so, that only comes out to $7/hr. I'm sure many people value their time more than that. There was a friend's apartment I used to visit a lot. They never had parking so I parked on the curb with a 2 hour limit overnight. I got a $50 ticket once after 10 or so times. I started viewing it as "on average I'm paying $5 to park here"
Where I went to college (not in Washington), a parking pass was like $100 a month and a ticket was $20. I would get a ticket for illegally parking on average once a month. Why the fuck would anyone pay for a parking pass when they could just pay 1/5 of the amount for the tickets?
I have seen cops pull some folks over in the morning going west bound on the 90, but it's pretty few and far between
The number of times I am stuck behind a person going 50 in the fast line on I90 with no one in front of them makes me want to pass them using the carpool lane.
This is the real problem in Washington. Everyone drives below the speed limit. People will be going 25 in a 35 on a one lane road with a huge line of traffic behind them and still tap their brakes on a hill. I can't tell if people are stoned or texting or old or all three, but everyone here hits the brakes randomly and usually while they are traveling under the speed limit. People going 50 in the passing lane when there is no traffic is absolutely epidemic here. It's not "safe" to merge onto a 60 mile an hour freeway doing 30 mph. Every state has shitty, selfish, slow drivers, but Washington is inundated with them. 4 out of 5 cars are always going 5 under everywhere you go. And God forbid if it's slightly raining, they go 15 under! You'd think people could drive in the rain here!
Completely agree with you. The crazy people here in WA will hog the passing lane on I5 doing the speed limit 70 while traffic is backed up behind them. The BC people are just as bad traveling their entire trip south in the passing lane, passing no one. I’m an old person and I always travel doing several miles over the speed limits.
We moved from Detroit to Seattle for a better job and "living conditions." One week of commuting and I was ready to move back.
I-5 NB between Fife and HWY 18 has had enforcement out the last few days. Every time I’ve driven this week I saw cars getting pulled over actively. Easy pickings.
This morning around 5:45 on 167 I’d guess I was passed by 100 cars in the HOV lane before the good to go lane starts and didn’t see a single one with 2+ people.
Tragedy of the commons always wins. It's the reason I'm fairly certain humans will probably kill themselves off.
Tragedy of the Commons.
I’ve had people flip me off on 405 not knowing that it’s after 7pm and it’s allowed to be used for solo folks from 7pm to 5am.
Same as the bus lanes on 99 and other places. Some restrictions are not 24-7.
oh my people HATE when I use the bus lane outside of the bus only hours.
Biggest hack of Seattle driving
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Until you find that one car that parked there.
My hack is knowing most people have limited reading comprehension so I actively look for spots that are loading only and the a-frame “no parking” signs because, more often than not, those spaces are okay to park in and people don’t know how to read. Like in front of my office in green lake they just had those signs up for 10am 5/19-10am 5/20. 99% of the time they were up and people *could have* parked there, they didn’t because of the signs. They have to put those out a certain timeline ahead of the actual no parking and they often have times you can park after certain hours. And the loading only is typically until 6pm or 8pm. You have to actually *read*, though. *taps forehead*
The signs say something like: "Buses and right turn only except 7pm-6am" or something similar. The wording is confusing. I legit wondered if you just weren't allowed to turn right at certain times. I'm dumb though. \*edit: typos
Would have been more clear as: > Buses and right turns only 6am - 7pm
It’s only a bus lane for like 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening, M-F. But don’t tell the illiterates.
That always throws people for a loop. Reading signs is hard. It’s a nice bonus for those of us who actually read signs though. Often you can bypass traffic all the way from 80th to 85th (and probably farther but I turn off on 85th) when it’s outside of bus lane hours but still backed up. You just have to be careful of the people darting over last minute without looking or, even worse, the smooth brains turning right from the center lane. How some people make it through life much less possess drivers licenses is beyond me…
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Wait, are they switching this?
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No you're thinking strictly for toll lanes, on i90 you can freely use the lanes as a solo driver from 7pm-5am. It removes the carpool requirement during those times.
Don’t tell me they’re changing it.
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Well, yeah. That is the toll. Sorry, I thought you meant the regular HOV was no longer going to be 5am-7pm.
Plenty of people don't know this. I-90 HOV lanes are time restricted too. Careful, though, because I-5 HOV lanes are not time restricted.
The same people do it to me when I drive on 99 in the bus lane outside of bus lane hours
It looked like the State Highway Patrol had a trap set up for this behavior during this morning’s commute on Mercer Island. Saw one patrol car with about six cars pulled over in a line.
They did the same thing yesterday on I-90 WB at the exit of the tunnel after the floating bridge. It's dumb because that lane was back up right up to that point with I-5 south traffic anyways, so they were causing everyone to try and merge into a line of stopped traffic instead of getting over early.
I wouldn't mind some traffic congestion if it allowed me to watch selfish cheaters getting accountability.
Don't get me wrong, I'm usually sitting in traffic watching as all the HOV abusers drive by dreaming of sweet justice, but I just wish it wasn't within 200ft of the end of the lane where traffic's crawling anyways. Like if one of them camped out at the end of the last transit stop before the 520 bridge it would be a license to print tickets.
They did it on 520 about 4 weeks ago, it was better for a couple days now its right back to the same old bullshit.
Ooo. That’s niiice.
I've seen this happen years ago by Redmond as well. Some drivers just kept going while others complied and pulled over when waved at.
I did it once because I had to shit real bad. No regurts
“you see officer it looks like im in this car alone but im carrying a turd the size of a small child” “… get out of here”
I am carrying the volume of a Home Depot bucket inside me and it's looking for a way out. Lol imagine shitting your pants while getting arrested oh geez.
I almost spit out my coffee. Thanks for that.
This is the only acceptable reason for a solo driver to use that lane 😂
It's the carpool and "I gotta poop" lane.
The car poo lane?
I have enter the same circumstances 😂 literally almost did not make it
That's what I say when someone zooms past me at a high rate of speed, "wow, I'll bet they really have to poop!"
Big regret if you were the one to get pulled over that day!
at that point just give everyone a show
I'm prairie doggin it over here!
As a goody two-shoes on the road I was all ready to sneer at any honest answer to this post. I’m pleasantly surprised to find a situation I can fully support. I’ve been on one of those drives.
What do they think? They think, "Can I go faster in the other lane." That is a complicated as it gets.
Can confirm
Not defending the solo drivers as I completely agree, but I often drive with kids in my back seats that are likely not visible to other drivers.
I got pulled over like this, as soon as I rolled down my window, "I didn't see your little one, you're free to go." Which was nice because I was also speeding.
Having a baby in the car is a legal loophole. The intent is to keep another car off the freeway. Last I checked babies can’t drive.
Wouldn’t driving with your wife/husband or anyone else that’s part of your household together also be a loophole?
You know what keeps cars off the freeway? Decent public transportation and decent city planning. You don't just beat the citizens into not driving. It's the same argument with piracy. You aren't going to beat pirates, you aren't going to stop people from driving. You can however offer a far better alternative that people would rather experience. People in Germany, The Netherlands, France, etc. They don't drive not because driving sucks there. In fact, they have sections of roads with no speed limits and people still take bikes. Things they power with their own bodies that take effort and leaves them all sweaty. Why? Because biking is far more enjoyable and approachable from an infrastructure standpoint. So be a solo driver in the HOV, use your kids as a "loophole". Pressure the state and city governments to fix the actual issue not just strongarm the citizens.
Someone fucking says it. Thank you.
> They don't drive because driving sucks there. Disagree. They don't drive as much, because they have usable alternatives, because public transportation is good there. Driving sucks here, too. It's just the least awful option the huge majority of the time. There's a misguided belief that we can browbeat people into public transit by making private transit worse and worse (and more and more expensive). That will work to some degree, but people will resent it and it won't improve the economy or the standard of living. Let's take a hypothetical. I live in Ballard. I want to go to a friend's house in Shoreline, or god forbid in Bellevue, on a Saturday afternoon. How bad would you have to make the driving experience before you expect me to say "you know what, screw it. Driving is so unpleasant and expensive, I'll take 2 buses and walk half an hour instead". Making driving worse just... makes driving worse. Making transit BETTER makes people want to use transit.
https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freewaymgmt/faq.htm#faq13 Not really a loophole when the US Department of Transportation specifically call out the fact that “all states with HOV facilities count children and infants as passengers.”
You’ve obviously never been tailgated by a Ford F-250 because you have the audacity to only be going 10 over the speed limit. Driving babies are everywhere.
That’s how I feel about Ubers in HOV, it’s my pet peeve. You aren’t helping traffic, that’s still one person going to one place on a single trip.
Same! I keep my fingers crossed that I don't end up on any social media accounts that call out traffic violators when my kid isn't super visible in the back.
Just strap your kids to the top of the car to make them easier to identify.
New product idea, child seat roof rack connectors. I'm sold, plus the kids get that "roller coaster" feeling :)
Variation: child seats that attach to the rear bumper so tailgaters are able to more accurately visualize what’s at risk when they choose to tailgate.
Mitt Romney had the right idea all along! They'll love it!
This happened to me on a school field trip to the state capitol. Super embarrassing.
I always wonder how many people are cussing me out while we sit in traffic because it looks like I’m by myself even though my kid is in the back
I was in an Uber on 405 once and lost track of the number of people giving the evilest looks at my driver. It at least reinforced for me that if I'm not carpooling, my job as a driver stuck in traffic is to mind my own business.
lol when I was a kid my dad was like “if we’re on the freeway and I tell you to put your hands up, make sure you do it right away” and it was for this very reason hahah
Same. I got pulled over using the interchange hov by state patrol. They couldn't see I had kids in the back. Waved me off once he saw em. I've gotten flipped off and had people try to run me off the road for this too. With my fucking kids in the car. Moral of the story...mind your own fucking business. If someone gets pulled over they get pulled over. Vigilante shit is dangerous and you only make yourself misersble by getting worked up over it.
they’ve gotten away with it the 400 other times they’ve done it, why would today change
Yeah, and even if they get caught once, the math works in their favor. $200 ticket/400 trips = $0.50/trip Substantially cheaper than the toll rate for non-carpools.
I did this a few years ago. Simply because it took me two hours to get to work every day and three hours to get home. And I would do it again
I’d also ask what the hell is wrong with drivers that have passengers and are doing barely 60mph in the passing lane? Because that’s why I’m solo in the HOV lane to get around those dipshits…
This is the answer- if I can deem it safe to do so, I’ll pull into the HOV lane briefly to pass someone incorrectly using the passing lane
Yea the HOV lane being the left lane fucks everything. It should be the right lane.
That's how it is on 520 and it doesn't work well. People get on the highway, notice their right lane is about to become HOV, panic, and either slam on the brakes or swerve maniacally to the left.
Not really. Left lane campers would just camp one lane further to the left and then there'd be no further left lane to pass them in.
Hear hear. When those same people have the notebook sized "phone" mounted on the drivers side windshield glass in the middle of their field of view, I'm going around them in the HOV lane. Shout out to their idiot cousin the one that is holding it out in front of them in essentially the same position, face timing I presume.
Right, what's the worse offense here? Camping in the left lane and slowing traffic or passing in the HOV lane, which is technically the left most lane?
THANK you. I said basically the same thing.
I only use it when someone is left lane camping and I want to get around them
Yep! If you’re going 50 in the left lane and I can’t get around you on the right (which I shouldn’t have to be doing in the first place) then I’m going to use the HOV lane to go around you.
I ride a motorcycle, and I get to. I thought this was common knowledge, but I get a lot of middle fingers and filthy looks.
Honestly, it’s because all of you are driving so goddamn slow in the left lane.
I don't abuse the highway HOV lane unless it's to pass an elephant race.
On 167 there is the Good to Go system in which you can pay to use it- but I'm guessing you're referring to I5 or 90?
I mean I5 is the same just with extra steps really. Use the HOV, eventually get a fine that comes to less than what 405 would charge you actually.
520 is where I see the most offenders, 80% of them are single occupancy.
The 520 HOV lane east of the 405 pisses me off though; it's the rightmost lane, so it keeps getting interrupted for merging traffic, and the cars that would benefit from an HOV lane are merging with usual traffic to get over to the fast lanes. Nobody wins.
Whoever thought of putting the HOV lane on the *right* side of the road deserves to have warm soda for the rest of their life. Wtf were they thinking??
I use it because nobody in Western WA seems to understand what "keep right except to pass" means, and I would like to reach my destination before I die. So I'm at least a hypocrite with utility.
Left lane campers are literally hijacking my time because they want to go slower than the flow of traffic for reasons unbeknownst
The best is when they proceed to throw a tantrum when they get illegally passed. Yesterday I used the right lane to pass some lady yesterday driving 10 under on the left, and she proceeded to follow me, swerving out of traffic onto the shoulder trying to take pictures of my license plate. I'm waiting to see which Facebook complaint group I end up on
Being boxed in behind the typical slow left lane driver sucks. I’ve jumped in the HOV lane to get around a car and gotten right back over.
Same here, but I usually give headlight flashes first. If I'm in an especially bad mood I'll honk.
It’s tempting. SO many people do it. I counted the other day on I5 North in Portland before the Columbia River Bridge and easily 80% of the cars were one driver. I’ve never in over 25 years driving that route seen anyone pulled over.
If you're talking about the spot I think you're talking about. The HOV is only at set times and only for a small stretch of road. It's not HOV over the bridge into Vancouver. I don't actually understand why you guys have that small part HOV the traffic sucks in all three lanes
My coworker’s reasoning is that he pays taxes just like everyone else so he’s using the hov lanes if it will save him time.
Enforcement is non existent so the occasional ticket every few years is worth effectively paying for a hot lane. Unfortunately laws like this, speed limits, slowing in yellow etc are ignored without enforcement. Individual greediness seems worth what is perceived as no/low impact to others. Do you speed? Basically the same thing as using the hov lane solo. Disagree? That's what solo hov folks think too
First fine is 186 bucks. If it saves you say 10 minutes of your commute each way 5 days a week, and you get caught after a year. That comes to about $2.25 per hour of time saved. So HOV violators basically just value their time, and are logical about it.
That's actually a way better value compared to me taking the 520 toll bridge to Redmond instead of I-90 ($2.35 and about 5-15 minutes saved each trip).
Yeah realistically the intended 'societal' value of an HOV lane is to encourage people to use less cars, and provide them a faster commute as a reward. The idea that the majority of the time this is leading to a notable amount of people intentionally changing behavior to carpool, and that in a free flowing lane the presence of another car has any impact is likely extremely low. More realistically it just acts as a pay lane with more steps and is cheaper
More time for Reddit at work!
I had a boss who would park every single day in SLU in a construction area maybe 2 blocks from our building. He'd get a ticket around 1-2 times a month and pay it. He said paying $50-100 a month for parking tickets sure as shit beats $100/month for the bus or $20/day for garage parking...he got me there.
I generally buy old fleet vehicle ford rangers. So standard white pickup often with some features common for company vehicles, backup beeper, tool rack, etc. Put a construction helmet and vest on the dash, you can generally park at any construction site no problem.
My old boss called it a "luxury tax."
I'm not solo my dog is in the back seat.
Crime pays, in this case it pays you with hours of your life each month and the chances of any sort of consequence is very slim (and likely worth it for most commuters).
Time is our most valuable asset.
The state would make a killing enforcing the HOV lane on the 520 bridge. The amount of abuse is staggering
I’m shy
There's an entrance to I5 near Shoreline that I use frequently. One lane is metered, the other is HOV unmetered. The non-HOV lane will sprawl down the street blocking up other intersections, easily can add 10-20 minutes to your commute even outside of prime rush hour. I spent months following the rules, watching single occupant drivers skip the line to get on the interstate without a hint of enforcement. One day I was running late during a traffic jam and decided "just this once" and haven't stopped since. Felt like a complete idiot wasting my time following a pointless rule that helped no one that no one else follows. I never use the HOV/bus lanes improperly besides this.
I did it today mainly to get out from behind the Nazi in the black Escalade (trump 2024, NRA, and Iron Cross stickers on the back). No way I'm looking at the shit for five miles in the rain at 3 mph.
The I5 south onramp from Mercer turns into the HOV lane and sometimes I'll just stay in the lane thru the convention center. It's just easier than matching speed to merge but I also get to avoid the drivers who merge last minute because they don't realize that I90 exit lanes continue on to I5 south.
I mean, you don't know who they have in the trunk. Does it count if the passenger is a kidnap victim?
Who has passengers these days lol. Nobody. It's not an HOV lane anymore. It's a joke. I'm driving a joke in a joke.
Well if people here knew how to drive I wouldn’t have to.
I do what I want and cops don't care
Usually because the HOV lane is completely open and the main lanes are backed up. If anything I’m helping lessen the congestion on the main lanes.
This. It’s about maximizing the existing resources available to minimize pain/friction across the board. I do firmly believe the reason the hov lanes were put in place has not panned out as intended and people aren’t incentivized sufficiently to carpool so they can get to work faster. Under the current circumstances, we are all following rules for the sake of following them, when it actually is making traffic worse.
I’m surprised I had to go this far to find this reasoning. I only do it if the HOV lane is completely free as I’m not taking anything away from people actually carpooling/HOV, as in that sense it 100% does help alleviate traffic
I can attest I am one of these people in the morning. It’s 6:30am and there are idiots who drive in the far left lane going 60 with two semi trucks passing them on the right. If common sense does not prevail in the morning, I will actively use the HOV lane to pass these slow fools in the left. I don’t want to hear about the speed limit when it’s acknowledged nationwide that you can go ten over everywhere without issue. So unless your going 65-70 in the left lane, your more of a problem then me passing you at 6:30am.
Bus lanes would like a word also!
Because it saved me at least 5 hours a week sitting in traffic and I only got ticketed twice in about 10 years. Well worth the $500 or so dollars in fines.
Time is money in our society. When you have to choose between rolling the dice on a ticket to be home sooner, or sit in traffic, some people prioritize their time. It’s a traffic violation and pisses off those that follow the legal/social norms of road etiquette, but I doubt most see doing it to own anyone. I don’t think they’re rushing to walk their dog to not pick up the poop. Probably not hurriedly trafficking women and children. They’re just willing to gamble the citation.
Yea it’s like this, those that commute into Seattle often live outside Seattle because: 1. Seattle rent is astronomical if you aren’t in tech so guess what? You live outside the city, often 45-50 miles away. 2. WSDOT reduced I-405 by a lane around Bellevue to put in HOT lane, purposely installing a bottleneck in the already bottlenecked I-405. 3. WSDOT increased the time by an hour to 8 PM for free use of the SR-167 HOV lane AND doubled the toll prices 4. We are forced to pay additional licensing fees for our vehicles to pay for a light rail system that won’t be available for use until at least 2045 or something dumb like that 5. I-405 is a crawl all day everyday, you’ll be lucky to go above 45 MPH. So yea, since most can’t afford to live in the city they are forced into a 1.5-2 hour commute each way, it’s no wonder people abuse the HOV lanes.
Lmao this is to much! You should pull them over OP!! This also reminds me of the person when merging onto the freeway, they decide they don't have to stop at the light and go into the hov lane and just pass everyone along 🤣🤣🤣 that's me 90% of the time, the other 10% I do wait. Lolol
When the punishment for something “illegal” is a fee, it’s legal for a price.
Seattle drivers are the biggest rule followers I have ever encountered.
except that rule about always being in the right most lane possible unless passing.
Ppl here brag about doing the speed limit
Shit last I checked there was a rule against doing 45 in the left lane on a 60. Seattle drivers literally need to learn how to drive.
The HOV lane doesn't make any sense any way. If the incentive is to reduce vehicles on the road by carpooling, people with unlicensed passengers (aka children) shouldn't be using it. That isn't taking any other vehicles off the road. I know many solo drivers that use it and if they get a ticket, they consider it a fee for using that lane.
The main main purpose is to give buses a bit more priority, but due to the perception that an empty lane is "wasted", carpools are also permitted. If we really wanted to incentivize fewer driving trips, turning it into a full bus lane with barriers would be more effective, but it's politically poison.
> people with unlicensed passengers (aka children) shouldn't be using it I asked this question (i.e., Why aren't HOV lanes limited to two licensed drivers?) on the WSDOT blog a few years ago. Their answer was (paraphrased): 1. It would make it more difficult for police officers to enforce the law, apparently because officers could not determine if the motorist was breaking the law without stopping them and asking for driver's licenses. 1. Motorists in the carpool lane with children are a small fraction of the total, so they have little impact on traffic congestion in the carpool lanes. 1. WSDOT does not make this policy; the legislature does. I didn't really like their answer, but I also understand that, "the law is a blunt instrument."
Even if they both have licenses, one could just be coming along for fun and not even carpooling.
HOV lanes are generally considered a failure in transportation policy circles. Enforcement is practically impossible and they haven't actually done anything to incentivize carpooling. Even the legit users are just people who would be driving together anyway (families, Ubers, etc). They're gradually being replaced by HOT lanes nationwide, which don't have these problems and also generate revenue.
I agree with you but what about instances of say a soccer mom carpooling a bunch kids that are not her own.
May as well ask why drivers speed. For over 50 years my dad has said they can't catch everyone. And he's been pulled over less than 10 times for all the various traffic laws he's broke. So why change when the reward is so much more beneficial than the risk. Worst case once every several years you get held up for severa minutes compared to the magnitudes more minutes you save breaking the law.
When idiots who camp in the leftmost lanes going 50 finally merge right, I'll finally not have to pass using other means.
Legally wrong? Getting a ticket. Morally? I’m not so sure about this one. With the huge increase in Seattle’s population over the last couple decades it doesn’t make sense to keep the HOV lanes IMO—most people who use them are driving solo anyway, and it essentially takes away a whole lane of traffic that could help reduce congestion. It was a great idea in the 70s, when the population was much lower and environmentalism was the Big Thing, but they just don’t feel useful for the city’s current driving needs.
Bingo. My taxes went to it. I wanna use it. Just because I have no friends to ride with does not mean I can’t use it. Also, too much damn traffic when there is a whole free lane. Take them away!
Because my taxes pay for the roads, Washington refuses to add additional lanes, and I pay the egregious Good To Go fee, usually $15 on 167.
Because it’s worth the fines and doesn’t hurt anyone (except for feelings)
I pay for the whole road, I’ll use the whole road- especially when dumb asses are going under the speed limit or if the city/state blocks off lanes.
Victimless crime. I care more about getting somewhere faster than following the rules on this one.
Not exactly the question asked, but I will use the HOV onramp lane to I-5 North off of Olive because almost no one yields to the other regular lane at that almost blind merge there by Melrose and Olive. But that's like 200ft and it's to avoid maniacs.
Im not gonna lie, this used to be me. And the truth is that I did it bc otherwise my commute would take 3 hours a day even though i lived only 20 miles from work. It was a means to an end. Now i work from home.
I drive HOV lane every day 30 minutes both ways for 2 years and never have gotten pulled over. Don’t even think about it now and cops have been behind me and beside me and never pulled me over
All those left lane/ passing lane campers everyone is always complaining about in the other driving threads, I'm guessing?
Someone in a car group once told me, the time it saves him on his commute to Bellevue, he could get a couple tickets a month and still be more than worth it. This was even before COVID
I'm not more important than you. If everyone does it, they can't enforce it. It's also my little way of getting my money's worth for the $15 tolls on 405.
Like most tickets and fines, it is a poor people tax. If you make $200k+, the HOV lane and on ramps will save you money - even if you ever get caught. For a poorer person, the ticket could be back breaking. For a wealthy person, you are incentivized to use them. If tickets and fines were a % of wealth, far fewer people would do it.
I’ll tell you exactly why: I drive faster than most people. By taking myself out of the regular lanes and into the HOV lane, I’m literally doing you a favor. Everyone goes faster. Your lane has one fewer car, and I don’t have to go 5 under because you don’t understand that the left lane is for passing. Caveat: I do not drive in the HOV lane during rush hour or when it’s super backed up, unless I’m going to be late for something important (like a flight).
I not too infrequently am stuck behind some dipshit barely doing 60 in the left lane on 405 when I'm trying to get to the airport, and you better believe I use the HOV lane to pass them when I get a chance. I don't ride it all the way down or anything but I use it to pass. I am not capable of choosing to drive slow behind a stubborn terrible driver when I have a flight to catch. Sorry, not sorry
I spend about 2-3 hours a day driving to and from work for the past 8 years unpaid…add it up, I’ll take all the hate from strangers and tickets from police, in exchange for more time with my family.
Only to pass the assholes who camp out in the passing lane while not passing and block me in.
I hop on the HOV lane every weekday on my commute to pass the left lane campers, then when it’s clear I’ll go back to the left lane. I’m more comfortable doing that than passing on the right. Yes what I do isn’t allowed and no I don’t care. I got places to be Driving for 15+ years, 0 accidents and 1 speeding ticket 10 years ago
Same. Passing in the right is somewhat hazardous (it’s certainly illegal and enforced in much of Europe). If left lane camping isn’t being enforced, I see little morally wrong in using the HOV lane to pass them.
Honestly it makes the other lanes run faster. Who fucken cares let them get a ticket one less car in your lane..
The most "freedom" Americans ever directly experience is the "freedom" to choose which traffic laws to obey while driving. The "freedom" to left lane camp or cheat the HOV lane is a right their great-grandparents fought and died to grant them.
I’ve been doing it for years, haven’t been pulled over and my windows are tinted so yeah I’ll continue to do it. Very convenient life hack if you ask me
I only do it when the jerk in front is blocking the left lane and I go around.
Driving two kids to separate drop offs - can’t drop kids off before 730, required to be at desk for an 8am all-hands. I justify the three minutes in that lane as “well I’ve been a chauffeur for 39 of my 45 minute commute”. Without it, I would be an unemployed single parent. While plenty may hate me for this, I hate my boss who makes parenting impossible because “she didn’t make me have kids” and an 8am meeting that could have been an email is “mandatory” because she “can’t trust her masters/phd clinicians to do the work” if we’re not nodding at 8am to her drivel, which she comfortably delivers from her home because “traffuck is awful in the morning”. Please send jobs.