HOV cheaters or just a lot of real HOV?

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   I read in Dr. Gridlock all of the complaints about the volume of HOV cheaters.  I am not saying this is not a problem, but at the times that I travel on 95, I am just seeing a much larger number of real HOV cars as wells as the hybrids.  In my opinion, the percentage of cheaters is way down from a few years ago.  Now this is probably largely a function of time of day.  For example, I am sure that between 6 and 6:30 am there are a huge number of cheaters.  I travel around 7:30 or so.

	One reason this is important is that, if as I suspect, we just have a very large increase in HOV use, then we are headed for major slowdowns in the HOV lanes, regardless of what law enforcement does.

	Bob

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Bob Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Bob Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: HOV cheaters or just a lot of real HOV? Posted: 27 Mar 2003 at 12:19pm
	I read in Dr. Gridlock all of the complaints about the volume of HOV cheaters. I am not saying this is not a problem, but at the times that I travel on 95, I am just seeing a much larger number of real HOV cars as wells as the hybrids. In my opinion, the percentage of cheaters is way down from a few years ago. Now this is probably largely a function of time of day. For example, I am sure that between 6 and 6:30 am there are a huge number of cheaters. I travel around 7:30 or so. One reason this is important is that, if as I suspect, we just have a very large increase in HOV use, then we are headed for major slowdowns in the HOV lanes, regardless of what law enforcement does. Bob

mycroftt Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 11 Feb 2002 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote mycroftt Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2003 at 7:43am
	I am on HOV between 6:00 and 6:30 every day. Without exageration I would say that a minimum of 25% of the cars are cheaters. There's no way that will ever change until points are assessed against the cheater's licenses.

mirangus Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 28 Aug 2002 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote mirangus Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2003 at 10:49am
	quote: Originally posted by mycroftt [br]There's no way that will ever change until points are assessed against the cheater's licenses. There is a regulation that says you lose your license after 5 violations, but the cops can't even catch some people once, let alone 5 times!![:o)]

swichowski Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 12 Sep 2002 Location: va Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote swichowski Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2003 at 12:13pm
	I know a guy who cheated everyday for a year and a half till he got caught twice in a month. He then stoped cheating and started picking up slugs. He said the first ticket or two was worth it but did not want the $500 one.

3ForHOV Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote 3ForHOV Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2003 at 2:43pm
	quote: Originally posted by swichowski [br]I know a guy who cheated everyday for a year and a half till he got caught twice in a month. He then stoped cheating and started picking up slugs. He said the first ticket or two was worth it but did not want the $500 one. One way to keep cheaters off is by raising the 1st offense fine from $50 to $200 or so.

mirangus Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 28 Aug 2002 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote mirangus Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Mar 2003 at 3:31pm
	swichowski- And you know what the sad thing is? There are so many other cheaters out there that feel the same way!! [:0]

MDC Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 04 Dec 2002 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote MDC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02 Apr 2003 at 10:24pm
	You do get points for HOV violations, at least you did in the '80s. The infraction is "highway sign violation" and carries 3 points from my recollection. Other than the people who cheat on the cutoff times, there really aren't that many cheaters other than the ones that continue past Springfield to get off at the "FSP". Other cheaters that annoy me are "hybrids" with out of state tags which are specifically not allowed in the law. I guess they get a pass since I see the same ones are there frequently.

MISS "T" Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Location: va Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote MISS "T" Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Apr 2003 at 11:34am
	There are quite a few cheaters on the express lanes between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. and they are very annoying [:(!],driving 30 miles per hours,I don't get that, what makes them think driving slow will not bring attention to them violating?[:0] MISS "T"

mycroftt Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 11 Feb 2002 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote mycroftt Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Apr 2003 at 11:38am
	quote: Originally posted by MDC [br]You do get points for HOV violations, at least you did in the '80s. The infraction is "highway sign violation" and carries 3 points from my recollection. Nope. Virginia code section 33.1-46.2.B paragraph 6 states, in pertinent part, "Upon a conviction under this section, the court shall furnish to the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles in accordance with � 46.2-383 an abstract of the record of such conviction which shall become a part of the person's driving record. Notwithstanding the provisions of � 46.2-492, no driver demerit points shall be assessed for any violation of this section." The referenced section 46.2-492 makes mention of the three points for highway sign violation so it looks like they made a change at some time since the '80's and specifically eliminated the points for HOV violation. Bad move, IMHO. Mike

Telser Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 17 Oct 2002 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Telser Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 07 Apr 2003 at 4:44pm
	When they are driving slow between Edsall Rd. and Springfield (where they let less than 3 people in a car get on the HOV lane as long as they get off on the last Springfield exit) close to the 6pm hour, they are trying to time it so that they aren't too much before 6pm when they reach that last Springfield exit so that they can stay on the HOV lane. They are a pain in the neck because they slow everyone down. I've even seen them pull over and stop on the shoulder, especially if they see a cop car's lights ahead. When they all start pulling out into the lanes from the shoulders about 6pm, it is not only annoying, but dangerous. If they are doing this elsewhere, I don't know the reason. As far as earlier times, the instances that I have noticed is when they spot a cop car ahead, they tend to put on the brakes and start crawling along. quote: Originally posted by MISS "T" [br]There are quite a few cheaters on the express lanes between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. and they are very annoying [:(!],driving 30 miles per hours,I don't get that, what makes them think driving slow will not bring attention to them violating?[:0] MISS "T"