I jus recieved a "informational brochure" in the mail on how to use the carpool lane correctly because some idiot called and reported that my car was in the carpool lane "illegally"? this is a joke! i kno for a fact that i havnt used the carpool lane illegally haha...anyone else ever gotten one of these?

 

WOW! Some people just need to get a LIFE. He/she must have nothin better to do.

 

loosers!!! they r just jelous that ur car is better then theirs lol

 

is it still legal to be in the carpool lane at night by yourself? i always thought like after 7pm or something you could use it...

 

Depends on where it is. This is true for most roads, but some such as 520 have a 24 hour requirement that you always must have 2+.

Most folks don't know this though, heck someone on this site even got pulled over once on 405 after 7pm and had to point the "until 7pm" sign out to the cop .

 

^That is what is fugged about the after 7P thing! 520, West of 405 and toward Seattle is 3+, and no jumping in the HOV lane after 7P. 520 on the East of 405 is only 2+ and is okay after 7P. I think I-5 is the other HOV lane that doesn't allow after 7P. 405 is good after 7P.

I have never gotten anything like this in the mail, and I'm always blazin' in the HOV lane when I have the kids in the car. I even got a ticket for it once even though I told the officer I had a kid in the car (and he looked over to verify). Does the brochure mention kids are okay, because I know that is a polarizing argument regarding HOV lanes (seeing as I'm not taking another driver off the road, etc.)

 

i know the 405 is after 7pm but i5 is 24/7 2+ requirement.

 

Yep was too tired to fully write out the 520 explanation last night .

I've wondered about this myself. I always assumed that kids counted but it would be good to know the truth.

 

yea ill have to look at the brochure again when i get home but i didnt think it said anything about kids...ive always thought that they counted too tho

 

This is the site for the HOV lane information, there is no restiction on age or licensing status. So basically if there is 2 or more people in the car ur good (except where it's 3 or more of course).

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/hov/

 

The thing that pisses me off about carpool lanes is the people who think you can just go "whatever speed you want to" which could be 45mph or 95mph... I got into a big argument with my friend about this and he said "The further left you are, the faster you should go" and I said, "So what if the guy in the right lane is going 95mph, do I drive 120mph?" He just kept saying "the further left you go, the faster you should be going." He says "well then why even get into the carpool lane at all if you are going to go slow?" Well, there are rules, for example: the speed limit...

OH and another thing that pisses me off about carpool lanes: When there is a huge wreck and 3 lanes are blocked, why not just open the carpool lane for ~200 yards to free up the ****ing traffic?

 

^ummmmm..... they usually do

 

Generally yes the farther left you are the faster most traffic goes. WA even has a law for this. IE only use left lane for passing or overtaking traffic. Although most cops wont pull you over for this it is a law.

How this applies to HOV lanes is a bit of a grey area but in general faster traffic stays to the left. Obviously if a car is going 95mph in the furthest right lane then there is no point being in the left lane correct?

 

^lol, calm down Derek. I think what x569 is saying is that when the farthest left lane is HOV it isn't necessarily the "fast lane." That is the way I think of it. Now, if someone is in the HOV lane going under the speed limit I think that is BS. They still have to abide by the law of the land, of course, and why drive slower than the posted limit in that lane when the far right lane goes faster than that, usually?

It pissed me off when some racer hauls up on someone in the HOV lane and starts flashing at them and riding *** when the person in front is driving fast enough. If you want to hot rod around then pass on the right.

That said, if I'm going 70 (normal cruising speed for me on the interstate) and I see someone coming up on me going faster, I hop out if in a good location to do that (where I can hop back in). A lot of people don't. It's all about common sense and common courtesy. Something a lot of people lack, unfortunately.

 

I'm calm I took my prozac today too WTF I just meant to say that WA has a dumb law for slow left lane drivers. I agree with ya on the HOV. I usually cruise at 70-75mph and sometimes get people coming up on me at 90mph+ just to prove something I guess. Somewhat annoying...at the same time somebody that is doing exactly 60mph in the HOV can quickly cause one of fingers to start twitching