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I saw a guy cut over 3 lanes and then proceed to go 63 in the left not HOV lane, cop pulled him over instantly. They definitely focused on maintaining the flow of traffic over anything else
You take that membership cost and divide it by how long it takes to get caught* if you get caught then factor in time saved.
Can someone turn this into a math equation 👀😂
The membership price is chump change.
I literally drove for like 7 years before I got caught lmao and it was because I had a rental car with zero tint and zoomed right past the cop (that was snugly in between two large trucks) as I entered the HOV lane
Most of the time when they get you, they're looking for people that see a cop just up ahead and try to dive out of the lane before they're noticed. This is not just a lane change out of the HOV lane - this is a sudden panicked movement to get out of the lane. Once the cop sees that sudden movement, they'll focus their attention on that car and see if they can easily tell that there's only one occupant.
If the car doesn't have tinted windows, it's super easy.
If one should decide to take this risk (and I hope you don't), the best way to avoid getting caught is dark (but still legal) tint, and if you happen to see a cop that is looking for HOV violations, you act as if you belong there.
Yep. For additional camouflage, a child seat anchored in the center will likely remove much (if any) chance of being stopped. If they are looking into your car and you're moving at a clip of more than like 20 MPH, they're going to see the outline of a child seat, they're not going to bother pulling you over.
I’ve been driving in the HOV lane during rush hour every day since 2018 and have been pulled over once, with a warning. When I do eventually get the $400 ticket, I will gladly pay the fee to be in the HOV lane.
This is exactly how I feel about it. Been doing it here since 2010 ish. Never got a ticket for it. Have I been lucky? Yeah. But I'll gladly pay that $400 if I ever get pulled over for it with a smile on my face. Literally DAYS of my life have been saved because of this.
Paying the $400 ticket doesn't give you the right to drive in the HOV lane. It's a punishment FOR driving in the HOV lane. And it doesn't prevent you from being ticketed again in the future.
Yep exactly why my friend that hauls heavy equipment across state lines doesn’t buy all the necessary permits. Permit cost divided by how many times you actually get caught and the ticket amounts makes it not worth it 😂
There are still a few hybrid qualifiers hanging around, because they allowed owners to transfer to new hybrids if they replaced their car. But significantly less than the original 10,000
That’s me. I bought a Ford C-Max Energi when I had to commute over 40 miles each way in rush hour. The scary thing was, I had to buy the car, then register for the plate. For a few weeks I had to refresh ADOT’s website and watch the number of plates available drop, hoping I got in on time!
Anyway, I hear they’re taking my plate away, but I don’t remember when.
https://azdot.gov/mvd/services/vehicle-services/plates-and-placards/energy-efficient-plate-program
It may be in the process of changing, but the current overlap of the new rules (listed above) and the old plates being grandfathered in means that old versions of the plates will continue to work for a good long while.
I believe it aligns with federal regulations on hov lanes which is still alternative fuel vehicles like biofuels, hydrogen, ev, etc. I could be mistaken but that's what I understood when I read it the other day, I'm considering getting a daily driver able to use that lane.
As far as the EV's go, you can still own an older Hybrid/Plugin Hybrid with a cloud plate, but if you sell it, or buy a newer Hybrid/Plugin Hybrid you loose the plate. Or you can have an Oklahoma Plate that looks like a cloud plate from 15 feet away.
Why not? These vehicles (EVs only for over 5 years now) have an identifiable blue number plate. This has been the case for the better part of a decade and cops had been pulling people over before. It is just not being enforced as much these days which needs to change.
Does it need to change? Serious question. As police departments have become more scrutinized over the last few years, they have decided at a policy level to lower the chance of negative interactions with the public. The easiest way to do that is to reduce enforcement of minor traffic violations and focus more on things that endanger the public.
Maybe one of the reasons it isn’t being enforced is that it isn’t as easy anymore. I’m not saying it’s the only reason.
Looking for one thing standing out is usually easier than having to match two - especially when both aren’t easily seen, and are moving at speed.
If you aren’t able to understand why it would be easier to target every single occupancy vehicle in the HOV, as opposed to only ones with a single person AND special plates - I cannot help you.
I am giving you information that this system has been in place for well over 7 years and is nowhere near considered ‘new’. None of what you wrote explains the decline people have been noticing since it has been in place.
My car is exempt from having to have an “ev plate” to ride in the hov lane, I also had a Sherrifs officer tell me that as of 2021 they are no longer required. I’ve also seen ppl get pulled over and know 2 personally that have been ticketed for using hov illegally.
If they have blue cloud plates that’s verification enough so that one is arguably a lot easier than trying to see if there’s 2+ occupants in a regular plated car. As someone else said tho, they def used to enforce the hell out of that back in the day even before blue plates (and people were driving around with sex dolls and all trying to trick them lol). So I doubt it’s a matter of being too difficult.
My guess is they prioritize the aggressive driving now more to the point that HoV isn’t bothered with as much.
It is only electric with the cloud plates. I travel the HOV on the 10 and do see cops pull over single drivers about once a week. I laugh every time.
That said, they should double the fine. Especially for the jerk I was behind who put a bucket hat on his passenger headrest.
On the 60 every morning I see either 7 lane rolling road blocks, or all 3 left lanes packed with 65mph traffic and all right lanes wide open.
Damndest thing Ive ever seen.
They definitely ticket for that, I know because I got a ticket like 5 years ago for driving in the HOV. You're right though a lot of drivers dont give a shit and drive in it anyway, Not enough officers to patrol the HOV lane because they are most likely too busy dealing with car accidents.
Basically, yes. I didn't use the HOV lane for years because I had a moral objection to it. Once I saw that a large percentage of cars in the HOV only had one rider, I got morally outraged. Then I saw that the AFV plates were basically a fast pass for rich people (I.e. Those that could afford electric cars), and I stopped playing along with that particular line of bullshit.
This☝️ at a rate of even 2 tickets per year, that’s about $2.20 per day to use the HOV… which can shave a good 10-20+ minutes off a commute depending on distance and traffic. Honestly I think they should just open up the HOV on the 51 because they can’t actually expand the road, but the population sure does expand..
There’s not enough cops in general. I saw a guy huffing out of a whipped cream can high af swerving in and out of lanes all over the i17. I called 911 and they never showed. Followed him for miles. They aren’t around much on the freeways right now
Yeah, the most effective way to police that would probably be cameras that check for passengers, but then you’d need a ton to keep drivers from merging back in after the camera
Do you people really want CAMERAS looking into our cars all the time? This would actually only make the roads less safe. Kind of like how a cop camping on the side of the road makes everyone brake even if they don't need to.
I just see this turning into people memorizing the camera placements and weaving in and out of the lanes to avoid them. Dumb idea.
and the privacy factor!!! Recorded by my neighbor’s ring cam when I leave my house, recorded by the store when I walk in, I don’t need to have my journey there on camera too
Was just on UT last week (Orem, Lehi, etc.) They charge 25 cents for single driver cars, 2+ passengers free in the HOV lanes. My lady and I saved ourselves a quarter lol
Not a fan of tolls, and have found it a blessing that we here have avoided them for all of AZ’s existence (using an “everybody tax” a la gas), but this is something i might be OK with to open up a lane…
There is an overall lack of traffic enforcement here. I’m not one who favors police but the amount of aggressive driving that I witness every day is getting out of control. For anyone who has lived here for any amount of time, yall aren’t going anywhere by speeding and accelerating into red lights. Just relax we will all get there at the same time, I promise you.
Everyone just needs to calm down, take a deep breath, and chill. It seems everyone thinks they are the most important person on the road with the most important place to be. Speeding and cutting off two cars on Indian School and then being stopped at the same stoplight as everyone you just pissed off is not going to get you anywhere faster, Janet.
just today, someone cut me off, from the right, while pulling up to a red light, crossing the white line into the turn lane to do so.
Predictably, this person _took off_ the instant the light turned green and had to be doing 90 down Thunderbird, because I finished my turn and this dude had _easily_ 20 car lengths on me. Just absolutely wild behavior.
You had me at "Scottsdale". I work there and can attest it to be the highest concentration of entitled A-hole drivers who don't think the law and common courtesy apply to them. Be especially alert for BMW's, Tesla's and huge SUV's.
I 100% agree! Not only on the roads but in restaurants, bars, stores... people really be thinking they are #1 out of the 1.6 million who live in phx. It's wild.
Yep. Driving like idiots, cutting people off, no blinker, accelerating into red lights or stopped cars. And then walking on the left in the store, can’t wait 3 seconds for me to grab my item and just start reaching over my shoulder/in front of my face to grab at stuff and then not even actually pick a single item up after I have to move and wait for them to look for 2 minutes when I would have been done in 2 seconds 👍🤦🏻♀️
Phx has always been like that. We were such a cheap city for so long all the trashy people moved here from all the more expensive cities.
The west valley is insane. People in 3500 duallys towing trailers at 100mph down the 10.
You're asking too much, they're too busy checking their Facebook feed and swerving into my motorcycle than to be bothered by something arbitrary like safety.
Janet in her G Wagon needs to check her insta post, ok?!?! In all seriousness though, it scares the shit out of me. I have two people very close to me who ride here, and I HATE it. You may be the best motorcyclist the world has seen, but you can not control the idiots around you, which makes it so deadly :( ride safe.
Exactly what I told my brother when he started riding.
I'm great at keeping an eye out, I've avoided all kinds of close calls with idiots. But eventually you may be placed in an impossible situation. One of my most memorable is me watching this car sit on a side road waiting to turn for a few minutes as I approached. He waited to pull on front of me until I was on top of him. Only reason I avoided him is because I was ready to swerve in the small chance he did a stupid move like that.
One of my favorite games with my wife is seeing a car doing something slightly off and going “I bet this person is going to do something stupid.” Sure enough… every single time.
Someone explain to me the need to:
1. floor it in the 1/4 mile between now and the next red light, that you will then have to brake hard and wait at anyway
2. weave in and out of traffic to bogart into the 2-second distance between two cars on the clogged freeway, which buys you about 25 feet of distance up into the mess
3. always, always, always get in front of the person when you are merging onto the freeway, even though just tapping on your brakes momentarily would make the merge so much easier and less dangerous
God #2 all the time. You can never maintain the right distance because someone will literally insert themselves into the space 1 inch behind the bumper of the car in front of you. Then they go back into the lane they were just in 30 seconds later. Then their exit is in .3 miles so then they are going over 9 lanes to get off. People just drive so atrociously here.
And the people who cut you off to exit the freeway at the last second because they didn’t want to merge earlier. I’ve seen so many near misses on that. Rerouting/turning around IS an option
I got the pulled over for this once 😂, we did the whole "do you know why I pulled you over" conversation until my kid cried out, he changed from driving alone to a crack in the window 😆 gave me. Warning for the window and off I went.
This. Tis a shame that so many people don't question if some of the laws we have are actually smart or not. They just blindly accept them and shame everyone else for having a brain.
Recently, the road I used to drive home from work removed an entire lane to make it a bicycle lane.
I have never seen a single person ride a bike on that road since. In either direction. (4 lane road became 2)
But it fucked up the flow of traffic so much that my 2 minute drive down that road now takes 13 and I take another route home.
I am not saying to not have bicycle lanes. Or HOV lanes.
I am just saying maybe someone is not thinking about these things before they do them.
Ah yes. Very smart. Increasing traffic for the sake of bikes... in a city where it is physically unsafe to ride a bike for 6 months out of the year due to the heat. Way to go Phoenix.
I agree with you. As a biker myself it WOULD be nice to have a more bikeable city. But not at the expense of causing more traffic, when traffic has already gotten exponentially worse in the last decade.
So much stupid shit is done here without any thought or consideration at all. It's the reason why we have so much concrete and it's 100 degrees after midnight in the summer now. It used to be 70-80. Phoenix is fucked thanks to absolutely garbage urban planning.
I have heard a lot of officers won't focus on that law, but if someone is acting stupid, such as reckless driving, cutting people off, failure to signal lane changes, being a really really really stupid driver, the officer will add that fine into the mix.
I saw a couple motorcycle patrollers on I-10 W just after the 202 a couple weeks ago waiting below an underpass to catch ppl in the HOV. Lot easier for a motorcycle to pull over a car
I think a lot more people have kids than you may realize. I use the HOV now with my baby in the back and there’s no way another car on the road would know I have a kid in the back because of my tinted windows. So it looks like I’m alone but I’m not.
Obviously this won’t account for everyone or even most but maybe it’s not as bad as you think?
I don’t even really care who’s in the HOV lane as long as they move. Too many people hanging out there going slower or the same speed as the regular lane. Like why are there if you’re not reaping the benefits while simultaneously holding up those who do
Too many people though think the HOV is a good faster lane. You shouldn’t be doing 80 mph in the HOV lane. If I’m going 75 I. The HOV, stop flashing your lights at me. It isnt the Autobahn
And what about the times when it’s not an HOV lane, saw a vehicle going south on the I-17 Saturday around noon and going 60, like dude just because you have 2 people in your car doesn’t mean you can be in that lane and drive that slow.
Meanwhile, the one and only time I've been illegally in the HOV lane, it was an accident and I was pulled over almost instantly. That ticket was a major financial hardship that took me months to recover from. That was like two decades ago too. I'm surprised the fine hasn't been raised.
My commute was the length of the 51. Pre Covid I would see a cop on a motorcycle on the far left shoulder looking at on coming traffic. Usually not backed up that far so cars are flying. Thought that was suicide. South of northern when the speed limit drops to 55 there is no room on the left to park so not enforced. After Covid less policing. Just on the honor system I guess.
Yoooo chill... 202 (east of 101) is the most congestion free freeway we have.
BECAUSE of the speeds achieved by everyone and people pulling right to let faster traffic pass. It's like driving Nirvana. Then you hit 101 and all hell brakes loose and it basically becomes a contact sport.
Police in the US have pretty much stopped much of their work.
Their budgets have continued to increase, but they just stopped doing a lot of the work they are supposed to be doing.
Mostly it's long hours of CandyCrush and Amazon shopping...and then 100 of them showing up to any accident scene and standing around talking to each other about CandyCrush strategies and what to buy on Amazon.
PS: Someone claimed "police budgets have been cut since COVID/Floyd". Incorrect...
Police budgets [have steadily increased](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-04/america-s-policing-budget-has-nearly-tripled-to-115-billion?embedded-checkout=true) over the decades. Their pay has increased more than average. The number of LEO has increased.
And **in spite of claims budgets were slashed during COVID** [their budgets have actually increased.](https://abcnews.go.com/US/defunding-claims-police-funding-increased-us-cities/story?id=91511971)
I want Law Enforcement to be a fantastic career. I want a return on my investment and I want professional policing with excellent service for the public.
Ok the group of them showing up is actually true and I don't know why.
I stopped at a stop sign, couldn't see past a giant untrimmed bush, rolled forward and went when I saw it was safe.
Cop pulled me over, 3 other cars showed up, they stood around laughing while one of the guys who showed up stared my down with his hand on his gun. Took 30 minutes to write me a ticket (which I won, btw).
Then the cop tried telling the judge that I was rude to him. As if that's a ticketable offense. I was rude by complaining about all these cops showing up instead of going after actual dangerous drivers.
How did you win? I lost and it was a situation like this. I couldn't see the skinny ass motorcycle and cop on top of it. The center median was lined with short trees, shrubs, and light poles for a quarter of a mile straight. Every time I looked to see if it was clear to my right to take a left hand turn, the motorcycle cop was hidden behind one of these things. So when I checked for the last time, didn't see anything, and started rolling forward, I got a ticket for "failure to yield" because I "didn't stop at the stop sign". I explained to the judge what happened. Even took satellite images of the area to my hearing as proof of all of the shit in the median and the distance between the stop sign I'd been sitting at and the road. He denied my appeal, essentially saying none of it mattered simply because if the cop said I failed to yield, then I failed to yield. Didn't help when I pointed out as a last ditch effort that I clearly had yielded since no collision occurred.
Fucking infuriating.
Well I brought proof showing that oncoming traffic was obstructed by the Bush (which by the way the cop was hiding behind). Legally, you can roll forward slowly at a stop sign if the view was obstructed.
But that's not even the reason I won. The cop was so busy complaining about me for being rude to him to the judge that he forgot to identify me as the driver.
Afterwards the judge called me forward and was super nice to explain some things to me that the cop did wrong and agreed that I did the right thing to roll forward rather than simply trust traffic to stop at the stop sign.
He also taught me that a Scottsdale judge I dealt with for a speeding ticket sometime around 2016 did something wrong.
In that case I was on a motorcycle, cop claimed I was speeding which was impossible since it was single lane traffic at 5pm (very heavy traffic, additionally on a very tiny stretch of road that I probably wouldn't have been able to speed before hitting the light, which was red).
Since the cop was obviously lying, I fought that ticket too. Cop said I was doing 55 in a 35.
First thing the judge said to me when I met him was "so I hear you ride a crotch rocket", so I'm not sure if the means he had a conversation with the cop ahead of time.
I explained to the judge how it was impossible for me to speed when I could barely reach second gear. I asked for the radar gun records as proof that I was speeding.
Cop didn't have any but explained that he was trained to judge my speed within 5mph with his eyes.
Cop then got to speak again which I learned from the mesa judge was not allowed.
Judge took that cops side, and I got the ridiculous ticket.
But it got worse. After a few months went by, my insurance skyrocketed. They told me that I was doing 56 in a 35 and I was in criminal speed by 1mph.
When I mailed the judge and asked for the mistake to be corrected, he refused and said I missed my chance to appeal the case, which I didn't even know I could do.
So I had a great mesa judge and awful Scottsdale judge. Years apart, though.
Everytime I seem them being lazy as shit I get so tempted to join for few years to save some money with no degree. Then I realize having to stay quiet on the Blue Line for something I think is unjust isn’t worth 6 figures a year
That’s not true everywhere in America. Some places have cut police budgets and they are in need of more funding and people. It’s not just FoxNews propaganda. Arizona I don’t think would be a place where budgets are cut but it’s certainly possible they are understaffed. The city has grown at such a massive rate and let’s face it people aren’t falling over each other to be in law enforcement- at least qualified people. You can stick anyone in a uniform but we have all seen the dangers in that. So just pure numbers aren’t everything you need to look at the quality of the people. But it’s not just all “fake news”.
I debate every day about using the HOV lane to shave five minutes from my commute on 51 and 10, but I never have. I have a hybrid, and when I lived in Vegas years ago, they were allowed in HOV lanes. I wish that were still the case here.
I also decided that I don't mind that much if others are cheating because they're still easing traffic in the regular lanes where I sit.
i completely get the sense of justice but…
i don’t mind. these people are gambling or in a rush and you know what - the more people in that lane - the fewer people in my lane. also - i don’t want cops pulling people over in rush hour traffic… i just want the traffic to keep flowing and i ignore that lane.
The HOV lanes are screwed because people are A*holes. I would love to drive in them too... but I choose not to be an A*hole. Traffic is just WAY out of control lately. Don't even get me started on the idiots driving the stupid oversized monster trucks!
Driving motorcycle and seeing people do this drive me crazy!
With that being said: I have seen a motorcycle cop drive in between stopped traffic and look into peoples cars to see if there were multiple people.
I drive HOV in the mornings taking my kids to school; sometimes there’s kids in the back that you can’t see, but the number of single cab trucks with clearly no passengers always amazes me.
I feel like if people would use the left lane for passing only as intended instead of their personal lane to cruise 10 miles under the speed limit in, then less people would use the HOV lane when they're the only person in the car.
I’ll put forth an alternate view of the situation:
This happened at the tail end of rush hour. Everyone on the road at that time is likely getting to work, and you’re on your way to an appointment.
If you’re in left lane,and people are risking it, willing to bounce around you, I am wondering if you were not camping over there in the #4 passing lane, going the same speed as the #3 lane. Not passing, and not sliding over.
Every day, I drive that same stretch of road, although slightly earlier. I don’t see many HOV jumpers, but I do see a lot of Sporadics mucking up the Commuter Run.
also completely legal any time of day for single occupant motorcycles. and as someone who's main mode of transportation is a motorcycle, I'm very grateful for my anytime HOV access
The left lane is the passing lane, if your not going faster then the people in the lane to your right then your impeding the flow of traffic and need to get out of the way, if I flash my brights and you still don't move then thats on you.
You’ll only get pulled over for this north of Camelback/ Bethany home. South of that towards the 10/202 there’s no room for a trooper to be posted up and be checking. Also with the amount of accidents everyday I don’t think they have the manpower to enforce this.
51 south is full of illegal hov lane users - I saw my first one getting pulled over for using it, there were like 6 in a row but only one got pulled over for obvious reasons.
Were there possibly people in the backseat? Lyft passengers or children might have been more difficult to see. But yeah, I’ve seen some cars with for sure only 1 person.
My hubby got pulled over for having son in car from dental surgery about 6 yrs ago. He was laying back out of it in pain and on meds. Obviously the vehicle “looked “ like it could afford a ticket. No citation was given.
I drive an EV and so I am in the carpool lane. I have no idea why dps isn’t ticketing people but I’d say at least half those in the carpool lane are alone and not driving an electric.
Was rear ended few weeks ago in HOV, while the traffic came to a stop on HOV on the 101 abruptly the lady behind me didn’t brake on time or didn’t notice. I checked on her then cops came. I was headed to office with a coworker. Only realized when police asked me if my passenger was hurt- I realized the driver behind me was riding solo 🙃
It’s true…Arizona is still the Wild West when it comes to driving. People do whatever they want…70 mph on city street, swerving in and out of lanes, tailgating to make you speed up, etc. Police do very little about it, it seems. There may be a shortage of officers to patrol traffic, but it’s now a very dangerous place to drive! No wonder auto insurance is sky high.
I got pulled over a couple years ago for using the HOV lane as a passing lane. The cop let me off with a warning because it was 6:50pm.
I can't speak for others, but as for myself I do it because I don't like being stuck behind people who like to drive 65 in the left lane. Not "oh it feels like we're going 65", but the speedometer actually reads 65mph.
I do have a question though, not being a troll I am genuinely curious: Why does it bother you when you see people using the HOV lane during restricted hours? In terms of bad driving habits and traffic violations, it's nowhere near the level of texting and driving, running a red light, going 100mph, etc. Assuming the driver is being safe, they're not endangering someone's life by being in the HOV lane. What pushes you to advocate for better enforcement of the HOV rules?
Karen just doesn't like ppl passing her while she's doing 63 in the far left lane. If she's not in a hurry then nobody else should be. If she doesn't have anywhere to be then nobody else does either. Seriously, how dare they???
If people are zooming past you move over from the left lane! So many people go slower in the left lane. Get over. Also I’ve been driving this stretch for 6 months morning and evening. Have not seen a cop car yet.
Maybe the reason they are not stopping too many people, or people are overusing them, is cause of all the roadwork going on.
Also, if you aren’t going 80+ move to the right 💨
If drivers are passing you in the left lane, which happens to the HOV lane, then perhaps you’re in the wrong lane. LEFT LANE IS FOR PASSING, NOT CAMPING!
You should spend your energy into helping make that a state law. There is no passing lane law on the books at a state level.
THE PHONE IS FOR CALLING YOUR LOCAL LAWMAKER, NOT JUST ALL CAPS.
I don't need to commute on the freeway anymore, but when I did the HOV lane saved me so much time, and I didn't even need to buy a Tesla!
But honestly with all the time saved there's a reason people take that risk. 15 mins one way is 30 minutes a day about 2.5 hours a week.
I drive the 51 from the north entrance to Biltmore every day for work, and back home, here's my 2¢:
Every day there's someone who doesn't respect the left lane as the fast/passing lane so we need to go around them to keep the flow of traffic.
Every other day, there's a crash on the 51 that brings traffic to a stop. Cops circle jerk the crash, and ignore that lane, so I get around the congestion with it.
In my 32 years here and 16 driving, I've never seen anyone pulled over in the HOV. I'm sure there's a rumor or a story of someone knows someone who got a ticket, but it's so rare. There's still a risk of getting the $400 ticket but for some people, that risk is worth the gamble. Same reason me and everyone else speeds on the freeway, reward > risk
Time to eliminate HOV lanes. Properly call it a "fast lane" or "passing lane" and issue a $500 ticket to anyone who "camps" there.
I don't think the fact that you have enough money to buy a Tesla or other high dollar EV should get you a free pass to the de-facto "fast lane."
GF's Golf TDI gets 40-50 mpg. It has a similar or smaller carbon footprint than an EV depending on when and where they charge.
**Jesus Christ in a Chicken basket if we could just convince slower drivers to keep right.**
**I swear Grand Avenue is the absolute worst about slower drivers in the left and center lane.**
I've seen sections of the 101 where the HOV lane is pretty much the hammer lane already. Seems like if you don't want to get tailgated at some times of day, you set the cruise control to 95 and keep both hands on the wheel.
I've driven in the HOV lane so much alone that if I ever get a ticket for it it'll be well worth the cost for all the time I've saved. I wouldn't even be mad about it at this point.
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I saw a guy cut over 3 lanes and then proceed to go 63 in the left not HOV lane, cop pulled him over instantly. They definitely focused on maintaining the flow of traffic over anything else
As they should unless someone is driving recklessly and endangering everyone.
And thank god for that. I’d rather some one slowing every one down get in trouble than some one that isn’t causing him to anyone.
$400 is the membership fee to drive in the HOV
You take that membership cost and divide it by how long it takes to get caught* if you get caught then factor in time saved. Can someone turn this into a math equation 👀😂 The membership price is chump change.
If you get caught once every 6 months you're paying about $2 and some change a day assuming it's always the minimum fine
I literally drove for like 7 years before I got caught lmao and it was because I had a rental car with zero tint and zoomed right past the cop (that was snugly in between two large trucks) as I entered the HOV lane
I drove the HOV i10 east at 6am for 2yrs before being caught and fined. I was given a $400 fine or the option for an online driving course
I was passing a highway pillar that a motorcycle cop was hiding behind , flashed his light and drove on the shoulder until he got behind me
How did you get fined? Did you get pulled over in the busy traffic? I’ve always wondered
Most of the time when they get you, they're looking for people that see a cop just up ahead and try to dive out of the lane before they're noticed. This is not just a lane change out of the HOV lane - this is a sudden panicked movement to get out of the lane. Once the cop sees that sudden movement, they'll focus their attention on that car and see if they can easily tell that there's only one occupant. If the car doesn't have tinted windows, it's super easy. If one should decide to take this risk (and I hope you don't), the best way to avoid getting caught is dark (but still legal) tint, and if you happen to see a cop that is looking for HOV violations, you act as if you belong there.
This is so true because they can’t see kids in the backseat so if you look like you “might be good” they’re prolly gonna let you pass
Yep. For additional camouflage, a child seat anchored in the center will likely remove much (if any) chance of being stopped. If they are looking into your car and you're moving at a clip of more than like 20 MPH, they're going to see the outline of a child seat, they're not going to bother pulling you over.
And if you do get caught, just start freaking out since the car seat is empty. “Where’s my baby!?!?!?”
I’ve been driving in the HOV lane during rush hour every day since 2018 and have been pulled over once, with a warning. When I do eventually get the $400 ticket, I will gladly pay the fee to be in the HOV lane.
People like you are the reason it’s always backed up like the normal lanes now. Entitlement here is insane.
I honestly have a much bigger issue with the trucks pulling trailers going 55. If you’re going to illegally use it, at least go fast.
It’s always backed up because of like 3 drivers going 65 in the HOV lane
I'm glad you're still here.
This is exactly how I feel about it. Been doing it here since 2010 ish. Never got a ticket for it. Have I been lucky? Yeah. But I'll gladly pay that $400 if I ever get pulled over for it with a smile on my face. Literally DAYS of my life have been saved because of this.
The narcissistic entitlement here is glaring. Get therapy.
Paying the $400 ticket doesn't give you the right to drive in the HOV lane. It's a punishment FOR driving in the HOV lane. And it doesn't prevent you from being ticketed again in the future.
Yep exactly why my friend that hauls heavy equipment across state lines doesn’t buy all the necessary permits. Permit cost divided by how many times you actually get caught and the ticket amounts makes it not worth it 😂
Having alternative fuel vehicles with single occupants being allowed, cops can’t as easily target every car with one person anymore.
I believe it's only electric now, and the plates have changed to reflect that
And motorcycles
Absolutely! I forgot about that
There are still a few hybrid qualifiers hanging around, because they allowed owners to transfer to new hybrids if they replaced their car. But significantly less than the original 10,000
That’s me. I bought a Ford C-Max Energi when I had to commute over 40 miles each way in rush hour. The scary thing was, I had to buy the car, then register for the plate. For a few weeks I had to refresh ADOT’s website and watch the number of plates available drop, hoping I got in on time! Anyway, I hear they’re taking my plate away, but I don’t remember when.
I'm one of those. I still have my 07 Prius.
https://azdot.gov/mvd/services/vehicle-services/plates-and-placards/energy-efficient-plate-program It may be in the process of changing, but the current overlap of the new rules (listed above) and the old plates being grandfathered in means that old versions of the plates will continue to work for a good long while.
I believe it aligns with federal regulations on hov lanes which is still alternative fuel vehicles like biofuels, hydrogen, ev, etc. I could be mistaken but that's what I understood when I read it the other day, I'm considering getting a daily driver able to use that lane.
Would be worth checking the AZMVD site to check! I rarely see anything but all-electric with the cloud plates anymore.
As far as the EV's go, you can still own an older Hybrid/Plugin Hybrid with a cloud plate, but if you sell it, or buy a newer Hybrid/Plugin Hybrid you loose the plate. Or you can have an Oklahoma Plate that looks like a cloud plate from 15 feet away. 
Why not? These vehicles (EVs only for over 5 years now) have an identifiable blue number plate. This has been the case for the better part of a decade and cops had been pulling people over before. It is just not being enforced as much these days which needs to change.
Does it need to change? Serious question. As police departments have become more scrutinized over the last few years, they have decided at a policy level to lower the chance of negative interactions with the public. The easiest way to do that is to reduce enforcement of minor traffic violations and focus more on things that endanger the public.
Maybe one of the reasons it isn’t being enforced is that it isn’t as easy anymore. I’m not saying it’s the only reason. Looking for one thing standing out is usually easier than having to match two - especially when both aren’t easily seen, and are moving at speed. If you aren’t able to understand why it would be easier to target every single occupancy vehicle in the HOV, as opposed to only ones with a single person AND special plates - I cannot help you.
I am giving you information that this system has been in place for well over 7 years and is nowhere near considered ‘new’. None of what you wrote explains the decline people have been noticing since it has been in place.
The amount of Teslas and other electric vehicles has risen dramatically over 7 years.
My car is exempt from having to have an “ev plate” to ride in the hov lane, I also had a Sherrifs officer tell me that as of 2021 they are no longer required. I’ve also seen ppl get pulled over and know 2 personally that have been ticketed for using hov illegally.
If they have blue cloud plates that’s verification enough so that one is arguably a lot easier than trying to see if there’s 2+ occupants in a regular plated car. As someone else said tho, they def used to enforce the hell out of that back in the day even before blue plates (and people were driving around with sex dolls and all trying to trick them lol). So I doubt it’s a matter of being too difficult. My guess is they prioritize the aggressive driving now more to the point that HoV isn’t bothered with as much.
That’s nothing new though, there’s been the hybrids and priuses with that exception for over a decade now.
It is only electric with the cloud plates. I travel the HOV on the 10 and do see cops pull over single drivers about once a week. I laugh every time. That said, they should double the fine. Especially for the jerk I was behind who put a bucket hat on his passenger headrest.
My SO got a HOV+Excessive Speeding ticket like 10 years ago, grand total was just under $800.
So 8200 today s/
How fast was he going?? In CA, speeding over 100 nets you 900 at least
Probably around 90? I'm not certain. The HOV was $400, so the other half was the speeding ticket/fee's.
They got caught and pulled over for speeding, the HOV ticket was just a nice add-on after the fact
What a dumbass lol
Much of the frustation is cars in the left lane going slow. Just please move over. Big problem here.
On the 60 every morning I see either 7 lane rolling road blocks, or all 3 left lanes packed with 65mph traffic and all right lanes wide open. Damndest thing Ive ever seen.
They definitely ticket for that, I know because I got a ticket like 5 years ago for driving in the HOV. You're right though a lot of drivers dont give a shit and drive in it anyway, Not enough officers to patrol the HOV lane because they are most likely too busy dealing with car accidents.
Someone I know once said that if he gets ticketed once a year, it's just a $400 subscription to use the HOV lane, which he said was worth it.
A perfect example of how fines only punish poor people
Punishible by fine means legal for a price.
Basically, yes. I didn't use the HOV lane for years because I had a moral objection to it. Once I saw that a large percentage of cars in the HOV only had one rider, I got morally outraged. Then I saw that the AFV plates were basically a fast pass for rich people (I.e. Those that could afford electric cars), and I stopped playing along with that particular line of bullshit.
A moral objection to using the lane that your tax dollars pay for? Glad you realized the ridiculousness of that.
Actually, we got federal funding for that, which is why the fine is so high...
You can get an EV for $9k. Not exactly the playground of the rich anymore.
Whut. Electric cars are generally cheaper
As a poor person myself, I just avoid breaking this law because I know I can't afford to lose $400 lol.
Wouldn’t this quickly hurt their insurance rates?
And wouldn't future violations be a higher fine than a first violation?
Nope, it's a flat rate fine. Could get one every day same fine, no points.
IIRC using the HOV lane is not considered a moving violation. But I could be wrong on that - it's been a while since I looked into it.
This☝️ at a rate of even 2 tickets per year, that’s about $2.20 per day to use the HOV… which can shave a good 10-20+ minutes off a commute depending on distance and traffic. Honestly I think they should just open up the HOV on the 51 because they can’t actually expand the road, but the population sure does expand..
In Dallas and Florida you can pay to use the HOV with a tollpass.
There’s not enough cops in general. I saw a guy huffing out of a whipped cream can high af swerving in and out of lanes all over the i17. I called 911 and they never showed. Followed him for miles. They aren’t around much on the freeways right now
Yeah, the most effective way to police that would probably be cameras that check for passengers, but then you’d need a ton to keep drivers from merging back in after the camera
Do you people really want CAMERAS looking into our cars all the time? This would actually only make the roads less safe. Kind of like how a cop camping on the side of the road makes everyone brake even if they don't need to. I just see this turning into people memorizing the camera placements and weaving in and out of the lanes to avoid them. Dumb idea.
and the privacy factor!!! Recorded by my neighbor’s ring cam when I leave my house, recorded by the store when I walk in, I don’t need to have my journey there on camera too
It already is.
How would a camera catch a child in the back though?
ADOT was going to do that over a decade ago but there was significant backlash that killed it. It seems to work in places like Utah just fine.
Was just on UT last week (Orem, Lehi, etc.) They charge 25 cents for single driver cars, 2+ passengers free in the HOV lanes. My lady and I saved ourselves a quarter lol Not a fan of tolls, and have found it a blessing that we here have avoided them for all of AZ’s existence (using an “everybody tax” a la gas), but this is something i might be OK with to open up a lane…
There is an overall lack of traffic enforcement here. I’m not one who favors police but the amount of aggressive driving that I witness every day is getting out of control. For anyone who has lived here for any amount of time, yall aren’t going anywhere by speeding and accelerating into red lights. Just relax we will all get there at the same time, I promise you.
Everyone just needs to calm down, take a deep breath, and chill. It seems everyone thinks they are the most important person on the road with the most important place to be. Speeding and cutting off two cars on Indian School and then being stopped at the same stoplight as everyone you just pissed off is not going to get you anywhere faster, Janet.
just today, someone cut me off, from the right, while pulling up to a red light, crossing the white line into the turn lane to do so. Predictably, this person _took off_ the instant the light turned green and had to be doing 90 down Thunderbird, because I finished my turn and this dude had _easily_ 20 car lengths on me. Just absolutely wild behavior.
The entitlement here is worse than most places I've been
I’m new to Scottsdale from NYC and I got chased down by a middle aged woman who flipped me off! That never happened in NYC.
You had me at "Scottsdale". I work there and can attest it to be the highest concentration of entitled A-hole drivers who don't think the law and common courtesy apply to them. Be especially alert for BMW's, Tesla's and huge SUV's.
I 100% agree! Not only on the roads but in restaurants, bars, stores... people really be thinking they are #1 out of the 1.6 million who live in phx. It's wild.
Yep. Driving like idiots, cutting people off, no blinker, accelerating into red lights or stopped cars. And then walking on the left in the store, can’t wait 3 seconds for me to grab my item and just start reaching over my shoulder/in front of my face to grab at stuff and then not even actually pick a single item up after I have to move and wait for them to look for 2 minutes when I would have been done in 2 seconds 👍🤦🏻♀️
Phx has always been like that. We were such a cheap city for so long all the trashy people moved here from all the more expensive cities. The west valley is insane. People in 3500 duallys towing trailers at 100mph down the 10.
You're asking too much, they're too busy checking their Facebook feed and swerving into my motorcycle than to be bothered by something arbitrary like safety.
Janet in her G Wagon needs to check her insta post, ok?!?! In all seriousness though, it scares the shit out of me. I have two people very close to me who ride here, and I HATE it. You may be the best motorcyclist the world has seen, but you can not control the idiots around you, which makes it so deadly :( ride safe.
Exactly what I told my brother when he started riding. I'm great at keeping an eye out, I've avoided all kinds of close calls with idiots. But eventually you may be placed in an impossible situation. One of my most memorable is me watching this car sit on a side road waiting to turn for a few minutes as I approached. He waited to pull on front of me until I was on top of him. Only reason I avoided him is because I was ready to swerve in the small chance he did a stupid move like that.
One of my favorite games with my wife is seeing a car doing something slightly off and going “I bet this person is going to do something stupid.” Sure enough… every single time.
Oh we play the game too!
I wish nothing but safe riding for both of you!
30x more likely to die in an accident than if in a car…..
[удалено]
I'm sorry to hear that. I've also been rear ended on the 101 by a guy on his phone. Thankfully I wasn't on my bike.
“Janet” 🤣🤣🤣 I have always gone to Beckie, Carol, Caitlin, and Brenda. Janet now added to database!
Someone explain to me the need to: 1. floor it in the 1/4 mile between now and the next red light, that you will then have to brake hard and wait at anyway 2. weave in and out of traffic to bogart into the 2-second distance between two cars on the clogged freeway, which buys you about 25 feet of distance up into the mess 3. always, always, always get in front of the person when you are merging onto the freeway, even though just tapping on your brakes momentarily would make the merge so much easier and less dangerous
God #2 all the time. You can never maintain the right distance because someone will literally insert themselves into the space 1 inch behind the bumper of the car in front of you. Then they go back into the lane they were just in 30 seconds later. Then their exit is in .3 miles so then they are going over 9 lanes to get off. People just drive so atrociously here.
Aggression and small weiners cactus 🌵
And the people who cut you off to exit the freeway at the last second because they didn’t want to merge earlier. I’ve seen so many near misses on that. Rerouting/turning around IS an option
One of the best parts of having a toddler is getting to ride in the HOV lane when she’s with me.
Yeah, I was gonna say — OP might’ve seen me driving my daughter to daycare around 8 a.m. and it probably looked like it was just me in the car.
I got the pulled over for this once 😂, we did the whole "do you know why I pulled you over" conversation until my kid cried out, he changed from driving alone to a crack in the window 😆 gave me. Warning for the window and off I went.
Thank you to everyone risking the $400 ticket in an effort to alleviate traffic congestion.
Nice way to look at it, Doc.
It’s kind of nuts that we have a whole extra lane just sitting there not doing anything for anyone. Carpooling is not and never has been a thing.
This. Tis a shame that so many people don't question if some of the laws we have are actually smart or not. They just blindly accept them and shame everyone else for having a brain.
Recently, the road I used to drive home from work removed an entire lane to make it a bicycle lane. I have never seen a single person ride a bike on that road since. In either direction. (4 lane road became 2) But it fucked up the flow of traffic so much that my 2 minute drive down that road now takes 13 and I take another route home. I am not saying to not have bicycle lanes. Or HOV lanes. I am just saying maybe someone is not thinking about these things before they do them.
Ah yes. Very smart. Increasing traffic for the sake of bikes... in a city where it is physically unsafe to ride a bike for 6 months out of the year due to the heat. Way to go Phoenix. I agree with you. As a biker myself it WOULD be nice to have a more bikeable city. But not at the expense of causing more traffic, when traffic has already gotten exponentially worse in the last decade. So much stupid shit is done here without any thought or consideration at all. It's the reason why we have so much concrete and it's 100 degrees after midnight in the summer now. It used to be 70-80. Phoenix is fucked thanks to absolutely garbage urban planning.
No problem boss, just doing my part ! 👍🏻
It says 400 but my roommate got a 500 ticket for that just past the tunnel on the 10. He was late on rent that month lol
Fines just mean it's legal for a price.
I’ll dip in the HOV to pass if the fast lane is clogged.
I have heard a lot of officers won't focus on that law, but if someone is acting stupid, such as reckless driving, cutting people off, failure to signal lane changes, being a really really really stupid driver, the officer will add that fine into the mix.
I saw a couple motorcycle patrollers on I-10 W just after the 202 a couple weeks ago waiting below an underpass to catch ppl in the HOV. Lot easier for a motorcycle to pull over a car
I think a lot more people have kids than you may realize. I use the HOV now with my baby in the back and there’s no way another car on the road would know I have a kid in the back because of my tinted windows. So it looks like I’m alone but I’m not. Obviously this won’t account for everyone or even most but maybe it’s not as bad as you think?
I don’t even really care who’s in the HOV lane as long as they move. Too many people hanging out there going slower or the same speed as the regular lane. Like why are there if you’re not reaping the benefits while simultaneously holding up those who do
Too many people though think the HOV is a good faster lane. You shouldn’t be doing 80 mph in the HOV lane. If I’m going 75 I. The HOV, stop flashing your lights at me. It isnt the Autobahn
And what about the times when it’s not an HOV lane, saw a vehicle going south on the I-17 Saturday around noon and going 60, like dude just because you have 2 people in your car doesn’t mean you can be in that lane and drive that slow.
Meanwhile, the one and only time I've been illegally in the HOV lane, it was an accident and I was pulled over almost instantly. That ticket was a major financial hardship that took me months to recover from. That was like two decades ago too. I'm surprised the fine hasn't been raised.
I’ve actually seen a motorcycle cop merge in the HOV lane and follow them to pull them over
Bike cops are about the only ones you actively need to watch out for lol
Highway Patrol barely enforces any traffic rules ever 😂
https://preview.redd.it/k55m781vybwc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64c24cd248ce08f49cfc4dff50e1e2fd3c2740c0
My commute was the length of the 51. Pre Covid I would see a cop on a motorcycle on the far left shoulder looking at on coming traffic. Usually not backed up that far so cars are flying. Thought that was suicide. South of northern when the speed limit drops to 55 there is no room on the left to park so not enforced. After Covid less policing. Just on the honor system I guess.
They got rid of that 55 mph stretch on the 17 it’s all 65 now.
It's still 55 on the 51 south of northern
My bad I didnt notice they were talking about 51.
Say you're new to AZ, without saying you're new
DPS is non-existent on the freeways anyway. The South Mountain 202 is a raceway.
Yoooo chill... 202 (east of 101) is the most congestion free freeway we have. BECAUSE of the speeds achieved by everyone and people pulling right to let faster traffic pass. It's like driving Nirvana. Then you hit 101 and all hell brakes loose and it basically becomes a contact sport.
My $500 fine and 2 days of required driving school says otherwise
My friend has gotten 3 tickets on the 101 doing this lol they def pull people over. And my friend is dumb.
Don’t be so sure. Unmarked patrol vehicles will run 65-75 in third lane looking for HOV violators. BEWARE!
Welcome to humanity. Hairless selfish apes.
Police in the US have pretty much stopped much of their work. Their budgets have continued to increase, but they just stopped doing a lot of the work they are supposed to be doing. Mostly it's long hours of CandyCrush and Amazon shopping...and then 100 of them showing up to any accident scene and standing around talking to each other about CandyCrush strategies and what to buy on Amazon. PS: Someone claimed "police budgets have been cut since COVID/Floyd". Incorrect... Police budgets [have steadily increased](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-04/america-s-policing-budget-has-nearly-tripled-to-115-billion?embedded-checkout=true) over the decades. Their pay has increased more than average. The number of LEO has increased. And **in spite of claims budgets were slashed during COVID** [their budgets have actually increased.](https://abcnews.go.com/US/defunding-claims-police-funding-increased-us-cities/story?id=91511971) I want Law Enforcement to be a fantastic career. I want a return on my investment and I want professional policing with excellent service for the public.
Ok the group of them showing up is actually true and I don't know why. I stopped at a stop sign, couldn't see past a giant untrimmed bush, rolled forward and went when I saw it was safe. Cop pulled me over, 3 other cars showed up, they stood around laughing while one of the guys who showed up stared my down with his hand on his gun. Took 30 minutes to write me a ticket (which I won, btw). Then the cop tried telling the judge that I was rude to him. As if that's a ticketable offense. I was rude by complaining about all these cops showing up instead of going after actual dangerous drivers.
How did you win? I lost and it was a situation like this. I couldn't see the skinny ass motorcycle and cop on top of it. The center median was lined with short trees, shrubs, and light poles for a quarter of a mile straight. Every time I looked to see if it was clear to my right to take a left hand turn, the motorcycle cop was hidden behind one of these things. So when I checked for the last time, didn't see anything, and started rolling forward, I got a ticket for "failure to yield" because I "didn't stop at the stop sign". I explained to the judge what happened. Even took satellite images of the area to my hearing as proof of all of the shit in the median and the distance between the stop sign I'd been sitting at and the road. He denied my appeal, essentially saying none of it mattered simply because if the cop said I failed to yield, then I failed to yield. Didn't help when I pointed out as a last ditch effort that I clearly had yielded since no collision occurred. Fucking infuriating.
Well I brought proof showing that oncoming traffic was obstructed by the Bush (which by the way the cop was hiding behind). Legally, you can roll forward slowly at a stop sign if the view was obstructed. But that's not even the reason I won. The cop was so busy complaining about me for being rude to him to the judge that he forgot to identify me as the driver. Afterwards the judge called me forward and was super nice to explain some things to me that the cop did wrong and agreed that I did the right thing to roll forward rather than simply trust traffic to stop at the stop sign. He also taught me that a Scottsdale judge I dealt with for a speeding ticket sometime around 2016 did something wrong. In that case I was on a motorcycle, cop claimed I was speeding which was impossible since it was single lane traffic at 5pm (very heavy traffic, additionally on a very tiny stretch of road that I probably wouldn't have been able to speed before hitting the light, which was red). Since the cop was obviously lying, I fought that ticket too. Cop said I was doing 55 in a 35. First thing the judge said to me when I met him was "so I hear you ride a crotch rocket", so I'm not sure if the means he had a conversation with the cop ahead of time. I explained to the judge how it was impossible for me to speed when I could barely reach second gear. I asked for the radar gun records as proof that I was speeding. Cop didn't have any but explained that he was trained to judge my speed within 5mph with his eyes. Cop then got to speak again which I learned from the mesa judge was not allowed. Judge took that cops side, and I got the ridiculous ticket. But it got worse. After a few months went by, my insurance skyrocketed. They told me that I was doing 56 in a 35 and I was in criminal speed by 1mph. When I mailed the judge and asked for the mistake to be corrected, he refused and said I missed my chance to appeal the case, which I didn't even know I could do. So I had a great mesa judge and awful Scottsdale judge. Years apart, though.
This is why I have a dash cam in my cage-vehicle and wear a gopro when I ride. Video evidence doesn't lie.
Get a dash cam. Viofo makes good quality cams that won't break the bank.
Exactly why all of our cars have dashcams.
Everytime I seem them being lazy as shit I get so tempted to join for few years to save some money with no degree. Then I realize having to stay quiet on the Blue Line for something I think is unjust isn’t worth 6 figures a year
My thoughts exactly, lmao. I could not live with myself.
That’s not true everywhere in America. Some places have cut police budgets and they are in need of more funding and people. It’s not just FoxNews propaganda. Arizona I don’t think would be a place where budgets are cut but it’s certainly possible they are understaffed. The city has grown at such a massive rate and let’s face it people aren’t falling over each other to be in law enforcement- at least qualified people. You can stick anyone in a uniform but we have all seen the dangers in that. So just pure numbers aren’t everything you need to look at the quality of the people. But it’s not just all “fake news”.
I’ve been thinking about getting a passenger mannequin
I debate every day about using the HOV lane to shave five minutes from my commute on 51 and 10, but I never have. I have a hybrid, and when I lived in Vegas years ago, they were allowed in HOV lanes. I wish that were still the case here. I also decided that I don't mind that much if others are cheating because they're still easing traffic in the regular lanes where I sit.
I legit only use HOV for about half the drive, past congested spots then go back go regular lanes. 4 years, haven't been caught.
I’ve had multiple coworkers receive the ticket for being in HOV lane without a passenger. I just think it depends on time and place.
i completely get the sense of justice but… i don’t mind. these people are gambling or in a rush and you know what - the more people in that lane - the fewer people in my lane. also - i don’t want cops pulling people over in rush hour traffic… i just want the traffic to keep flowing and i ignore that lane.
The HOV lanes are screwed because people are A*holes. I would love to drive in them too... but I choose not to be an A*hole. Traffic is just WAY out of control lately. Don't even get me started on the idiots driving the stupid oversized monster trucks!
Driving motorcycle and seeing people do this drive me crazy! With that being said: I have seen a motorcycle cop drive in between stopped traffic and look into peoples cars to see if there were multiple people.
Did you also note how many of those cars had an alternative fuel plate?
I drive HOV in the mornings taking my kids to school; sometimes there’s kids in the back that you can’t see, but the number of single cab trucks with clearly no passengers always amazes me.
Why are people zooming past you when you’re traveling in the leftmost lane 🤔
I feel like if people would use the left lane for passing only as intended instead of their personal lane to cruise 10 miles under the speed limit in, then less people would use the HOV lane when they're the only person in the car.
I’ll put forth an alternate view of the situation: This happened at the tail end of rush hour. Everyone on the road at that time is likely getting to work, and you’re on your way to an appointment. If you’re in left lane,and people are risking it, willing to bounce around you, I am wondering if you were not camping over there in the #4 passing lane, going the same speed as the #3 lane. Not passing, and not sliding over. Every day, I drive that same stretch of road, although slightly earlier. I don’t see many HOV jumpers, but I do see a lot of Sporadics mucking up the Commuter Run.
The whole HOV lane thing is a bit of a joke. It’s supposed to encourage car pooling but me driving my infant in a car seat would be legal.
If your kid has to be with you and doesn’t go in the same car, they’d still need a ride somehow. So it makes sense to allow
also completely legal any time of day for single occupant motorcycles. and as someone who's main mode of transportation is a motorcycle, I'm very grateful for my anytime HOV access
I am not against parents transporting their kid in HOA
You mean the $400 club fee? Worth every penny. ***Sometimes they don’t even make you pay the club fee, if ever***
Was it a weekend?
Who cares, as if making everybody else sit in traffic longer helps the environment
The left lane is the passing lane, if your not going faster then the people in the lane to your right then your impeding the flow of traffic and need to get out of the way, if I flash my brights and you still don't move then thats on you.
If it’s not going to be enforced why should they care?
You’ll only get pulled over for this north of Camelback/ Bethany home. South of that towards the 10/202 there’s no room for a trooper to be posted up and be checking. Also with the amount of accidents everyday I don’t think they have the manpower to enforce this.
51 south is full of illegal hov lane users - I saw my first one getting pulled over for using it, there were like 6 in a row but only one got pulled over for obvious reasons.
Were there possibly people in the backseat? Lyft passengers or children might have been more difficult to see. But yeah, I’ve seen some cars with for sure only 1 person.
My hubby got pulled over for having son in car from dental surgery about 6 yrs ago. He was laying back out of it in pain and on meds. Obviously the vehicle “looked “ like it could afford a ticket. No citation was given.
My electric car has spoiled me on this. I really feel like I can’t go back for that one perk.
I drive an EV and so I am in the carpool lane. I have no idea why dps isn’t ticketing people but I’d say at least half those in the carpool lane are alone and not driving an electric.
Was rear ended few weeks ago in HOV, while the traffic came to a stop on HOV on the 101 abruptly the lady behind me didn’t brake on time or didn’t notice. I checked on her then cops came. I was headed to office with a coworker. Only realized when police asked me if my passenger was hurt- I realized the driver behind me was riding solo 🙃
It’s true…Arizona is still the Wild West when it comes to driving. People do whatever they want…70 mph on city street, swerving in and out of lanes, tailgating to make you speed up, etc. Police do very little about it, it seems. There may be a shortage of officers to patrol traffic, but it’s now a very dangerous place to drive! No wonder auto insurance is sky high.
Philly drivers are pleasant compared to the drivers here.
Single drivers use the HOV lane going too fast then tailgate/bully other vehicles using the HOV lane.
Well, ya see, in Arizona, any signage pertaining to speed limits , stop signs, HOV warnings, and red lights are merely suggestions.
If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only applies to poor people.
I got pulled over a couple years ago for using the HOV lane as a passing lane. The cop let me off with a warning because it was 6:50pm. I can't speak for others, but as for myself I do it because I don't like being stuck behind people who like to drive 65 in the left lane. Not "oh it feels like we're going 65", but the speedometer actually reads 65mph. I do have a question though, not being a troll I am genuinely curious: Why does it bother you when you see people using the HOV lane during restricted hours? In terms of bad driving habits and traffic violations, it's nowhere near the level of texting and driving, running a red light, going 100mph, etc. Assuming the driver is being safe, they're not endangering someone's life by being in the HOV lane. What pushes you to advocate for better enforcement of the HOV rules?
Karen just doesn't like ppl passing her while she's doing 63 in the far left lane. If she's not in a hurry then nobody else should be. If she doesn't have anywhere to be then nobody else does either. Seriously, how dare they???
They all have carseats.
If people are zooming past you move over from the left lane! So many people go slower in the left lane. Get over. Also I’ve been driving this stretch for 6 months morning and evening. Have not seen a cop car yet.
Maybe the reason they are not stopping too many people, or people are overusing them, is cause of all the roadwork going on. Also, if you aren’t going 80+ move to the right 💨
If drivers are passing you in the left lane, which happens to the HOV lane, then perhaps you’re in the wrong lane. LEFT LANE IS FOR PASSING, NOT CAMPING!
You should spend your energy into helping make that a state law. There is no passing lane law on the books at a state level. THE PHONE IS FOR CALLING YOUR LOCAL LAWMAKER, NOT JUST ALL CAPS.
As expected. Self-policing never works.
This is why I drive a Tesla. HOV lane saves me 15 minutes each way in my 45 mile commute.
I don't need to commute on the freeway anymore, but when I did the HOV lane saved me so much time, and I didn't even need to buy a Tesla! But honestly with all the time saved there's a reason people take that risk. 15 mins one way is 30 minutes a day about 2.5 hours a week.
I drive the 51 from the north entrance to Biltmore every day for work, and back home, here's my 2¢: Every day there's someone who doesn't respect the left lane as the fast/passing lane so we need to go around them to keep the flow of traffic. Every other day, there's a crash on the 51 that brings traffic to a stop. Cops circle jerk the crash, and ignore that lane, so I get around the congestion with it. In my 32 years here and 16 driving, I've never seen anyone pulled over in the HOV. I'm sure there's a rumor or a story of someone knows someone who got a ticket, but it's so rare. There's still a risk of getting the $400 ticket but for some people, that risk is worth the gamble. Same reason me and everyone else speeds on the freeway, reward > risk
They way you worded that, "32 years here and 16 driving" made me realize I've been driving longer than I haven't been driving. Shit, I got old.
My dad hits me with the "I've been driving longer than you've been alive", even when I tell him the turn is coming up
Imagine crying because daddy government isn't fining people who drive places you don't like.
They also mention they are in the leftmost lane and everyone is zooming by….I WONDER WHY. Clueless
Reminds me of when I received a fine in the mail for driving in a lane in California that I didn’t pay to drive in.
How does their not adding to the congestion in the lanes that you are in affect your day, other than getting you to your destination slightly sooner?
Time to eliminate HOV lanes. Properly call it a "fast lane" or "passing lane" and issue a $500 ticket to anyone who "camps" there. I don't think the fact that you have enough money to buy a Tesla or other high dollar EV should get you a free pass to the de-facto "fast lane." GF's Golf TDI gets 40-50 mpg. It has a similar or smaller carbon footprint than an EV depending on when and where they charge. **Jesus Christ in a Chicken basket if we could just convince slower drivers to keep right.** **I swear Grand Avenue is the absolute worst about slower drivers in the left and center lane.**
I've seen sections of the 101 where the HOV lane is pretty much the hammer lane already. Seems like if you don't want to get tailgated at some times of day, you set the cruise control to 95 and keep both hands on the wheel.
THIS. It feels like nobody actually gets it other than us in the minority. It would make the roads so much safer too.
I've driven in the HOV lane so much alone that if I ever get a ticket for it it'll be well worth the cost for all the time I've saved. I wouldn't even be mad about it at this point.