Friday, September 17, 2010

Carpool Lanes and Driver Intelligence

Two to three times a week I commute from San Jose to Monterey and back, and most of the time the diamond/carpool lane is in effect. While I generally travel against the traffic so that I seldom get caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I still witness some interesting behavior on the part of my fellow motorists.  One phenomenon that I find fascinating is when (solo) drivers weave in and out of the two (or three) right lanes, traveling between 70-80 MPH, steadfastly avoiding the diamond lane, no doubt because they don't want to get ticketed for a carpool violation.  I'm curious, though: Do these drivers really think that a CHP (i.e., California Highway Patrol for those of you non-Californians) who notices a single driver traveling 65 MPH in the diamond lane is any less likely to notice the same driver weaving in and out of the right lanes traveling in excess of the speed limit?  I do worry about the intelligence of some of the folks on the road these days.

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