HOV Lanes ARE NOT a Speedway

I don't drive 80 mph too much, especially here where the roads aren't really that good. Still, I have noticed that there is a hobby around this area that seems to be all the rage. I call it "Pacing", and you play it by driving at the same speed as the car next to you. You get points in two ways: first by how many people you can get piled up behind you; and secondly by speeding up ever so slightly, as if you are going to pass, and then slowing down again, causing the impatient driver behind the other car to change lanes for no reason. It must be a fun game, because I cannot remember an afternoon commute where I did not see someone playing it!

In the end, it is a sign o' the times when drivers either have their heads in a particularly dark and humid place, either talking on their cell phone or passenger, or enjoying the discomfort of others. I don't want to go 80 mph, but I would like to drive home without feeling like I am at Daytona on a restart, 10 laps before the checkered flag!

Incidentally, I have driven in several third world countries, California, Florida, Georgia, across country more than 10 times and in 5 of the largest cities in the U.S., and I have never seen drivers as rude as they are here in the DC area. I have been cut off, forced to slam on my brakes or swerve out of the way so many times that I EXPECT drivers to do something stupid now. As a former law enforcement officer, this is not a view without at least some experience to validate it.

Doug

I saw a lovely sign on the Pennsylvania Turnpike just west of Breezewood this past Saturday. It said "KEEP RIGHT--PASS LEFT--IT'S THE LAW." Too bad Virginia won't put up this sort of sign. It's more to the point than "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT," given that some people feel that they are going "fast" if they are going over the speed limit.

I DEFINATELY agree with the two issues that have now been brought up...I certainly do NOT cut around using the merge lanes (on-ramps), and one of the best inventions ever made was the automatic lights that most new cars have nowadays. They should be REQUIRED.

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Originally posted by mfassler
[br]Well, it looks like I generated some attention out there, didn't I? Look...I'm not looking to really "tailgate" anyone. I have no problems with someone who is happy to drive slowly...as long as THEY aren't blocking traffic that chooses to move at a faster pace. But frequently, there is a wide open lane during the restricted hours in the HOV, and when there is open space in front of me, why shouldn't I take advantage of it? I am not saying that people should EVER drive erratically; but I don't think speed constitutes "reckless" behavior, even if VA law says it does. Besides, going up to 84 mph in a 65 ISN'T even legally reckless. You have to go 20 over...and even that I think is silly...maybe going over 100 should be reckless, because that's about where one looses some control over their vehicle.

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I think the speed limits are too low as well, and that people should always keep right except to pass, but you're wrong about the "20 over" thing. 84 mph is considered legally reckless--Virginia law is written such that anything over 80 mph is always considered legally reckless regardless of the speed limit. A lot of people seem to think that the rule in Virginia is "20 over," but it's not; RobertLangDirect's quotation of the statutes on the previous page of this thread is completely accurate.

With all of that said, certainly there are any number of places where 85 mph is completely safe, and other places where it is not. This whole discussion, especially the reaction of people who bleat that anyone exceeding 65 mph is automatically driving unsafely, reminds me of George Carlin, who said something like anyone driving slower than me is a damn slowpoke, anyone driving faster is a dangerous lunatic.

My two biggest gripes on the road right now are not hybrids, speeders, slowpokes, or any of this. It's the following:

(1) Assholes who think that the on-ramp merge lanes are passing lanes (i.e., traffic slows down, so these idiots get over ONTO THE ON-RAMP and then think they're entitled to cut back in later). Note that I am not talking about barrier-separated interchanges like most of the ones on the Beltway, or the Potomac Mills area; I mean places like the ramps around the Pentagon, especially in the non-HOV lanes in front of the shopping mall.

(2) People who don't turn on their headlights at night. On an average night I can be confident that between downtown and the Beltway I will see at least six vehicles being driven without headlights after dark. What gives?

Well, it looks like I generated some attention out there, didn't I? Look...I'm not looking to really "tailgate" anyone. I have no problems with someone who is happy to drive slowly...as long as THEY aren't blocking traffic that chooses to move at a faster pace. But frequently, there is a wide open lane during the restricted hours in the HOV, and when there is open space in front of me, why shouldn't I take advantage of it? I am not saying that people should EVER drive erratically; but I don't think speed constitutes "reckless" behavior, even if VA law says it does. Besides, going up to 84 mph in a 65 ISN'T even legally reckless. You have to go 20 over...and even that I think is silly...maybe going over 100 should be reckless, because that's about where one looses some control over their vehicle.

However, after Backlick Road (exit 167, I think), there ARE no entrances (left OR right side) to the HOV, so there should be NO breaking...unless something is blocking the roadway (ie. stalled, disabled vehicle, accident, etc...), and yet people feel the need to break all of the time. Rubbernecking is a MAJOR problem out there too. Unless you are actually going to stop and help the person(s) that are pulled over, the fact that someone has a problem with their vehicle should NOT interest anyone else...what is it about people that makes their "enquiring minds want to know?" NOT IT'S BUSINESS!! (as Gollum would say) So if people WOULD mind their own business and just worry about getting home, then there wouldn't be a problem.

So if there are wide-open roads, and NO entrances to the HOV to clog up traffic, and especially next year when those ILLEGAL "hybrid" vehicles (that still use "unclean" gasoline for fuel) get their selfish tires off of our (carpoolers) roads, then why is it a problem to use the space I have and get to/from work as quickly as possible?

Next year, they are talking about making I-95 HOV-4, instead of only 3, as well as restricting the lanes until 10am in the morning, and 8pm at night (which is being discussed by VDOT this year...going back to the times that it USED to be...can't imagine why they ever changed them), and those regulations, if enforced, will certainly make travel MUCH better. No one, in ANY vehicle, including law enforcement (unless they are ACTIVELY patrolling the highway at the time), should have ANY right to violate the carpool restrictions, no matter WHAT type of vehicle they are driving. VDOT built the roads to relieve congestion so that traffic could flow FASTER! Not to save the Earth with clean(er) air. While that's a noble endeavor, that's not it's purpose.

So, in conclusion...Hybrids go pick up sluggers or start a carpool...what makes you any more worthy than the rest of us? You want to save money on gas and save the world...GREAT! More power to you...but don't clog up OUR roads doing it, you selfish selfish people! And if you you want to drive slowly, fine...you have the 3 regular lanes of I-95 to do it in, or at a minimum, the right lane of I-95.

People FREQUENTLY pass up earlier rides home if they know I'm still on my way to pick up, beacuse they KNOW they'll get home faster, and they appreciate it significantly. I get complimented that I'm not a wimp and can actually drive and not "casually stroll" to/from work.

People--find the gas pedal...it's the one on the RIGHT!

--Mike