45 MPH in the carpool lane

[cardinal03]

The other day coming to work I'm stuck behind a Prius doing 45MPH in the carpool lane. Holding up 6-7 vehicles. Couldn't safely get past.

The speed limit is 65MPH, BUT all other lanes are stop and go.

Impeding traffic or driving safely for conditions? I couldn't decide whether to be mad at the guy or not

 

[}Dragon{]

They were hyper-miling! Don't hate the playa...

 

[GPzPop]

for what it is worth, if the lanes adjacent are stop and go, the speed delta between that and cruising at 65 in the carpool lane is kinda extreme. Expect the worst, such as one of those slowly creeping cars to suddenly jump into the carpool lane without any warning.

I would probably be going 45 or slower myself

 

[HIglesias]

say it wasnt stop and go. traffic is flowing at 65-70. the prii is doing 45 in the #1 lane. then what?
If I were judge dread....:sniper

 

[froride1]

say it wasnt stop and go. traffic is flowing at 65-70. the prii is doing 45 in the #1 lane. then what?
If I were judge dread....:sniper

Then it wouldn't much of a problem to go around would it

 

[MrCrash]

for what it is worth, if the lanes adjacent are stop and go, the speed delta between that and cruising at 65 in the carpool lane is kinda extreme. Expect the worst, such as one of those slowly creeping cars to suddenly jump into the carpool lane without any warning.

I would probably be going 45 or slower myself

Likewise. I'd also be cheating the far left side of the lane if my delta was 45 mph.

 

[JimE]

On the bike you have the option of riding the far edge of the lane thereby avoiding the folks who pop out all the time working their way across. The car doesn't. While it sucks the guy is cautious and holding the bike up you can't really fault him that much.

 

[CABilly]

I don't see a problem if the adjacent lanes are stop and go. It's not like SoCal where HOV access is restricted, so you've gotta watch out for people jumping into the lane.

 

[nweaver]

Having nearly been clobbered once by a car cutting into the carpool lane in stop and go traffic, 45 MPH sounds about right to me.

 

[AkatomboRR]

a long long time ago, i was taking my DMV driving test and i failed, one of the reason was I was only doing 55 on the freeway. :|

 

[MSHax]

The other day coming to work I'm stuck behind a Prius doing 45MPH in the carpool lane. Holding up 6-7 vehicles. Couldn't safely get past.

The speed limit is 65MPH, BUT all other lanes are stop and go.

Impeding traffic or driving safely for conditions? I couldn't decide whether to be mad at the guy or not

This is the very reason I HATE the Prius owners. I don't mind people saving the planet, lord knows i'm not gonna, but can't they save the planet in the slow lane? If you notice it's ALWAYS a Prius.

 

[MilesSpeed]

I think the part where the car was "holding up 6-7 vehicles" answers your question. I do see the danger in going fast while non HOV traffic is going slow, but it sounds like it wasn't going slow enough to justify 45mph.

I guess I would just pass and chill on the left side of the lane until I come up on another car. Most of my moto-life has been in LA/OC so I'm pretty used to being an aggressive rider...

 

[JimE]

This is the very reason I HATE the Prius owners. I don't mind people saving the planet, lord knows i'm not gonna, but can't they save the planet in the slow lane? If you notice it's ALWAYS a Prius.

That's funny. I notice that too. A little while ago I saw a Prius with the vanity plate "PIOUS" and had to stifle the urge to stop the driver and give 'em a slap. Too much.....

 

[CABilly]

That's funny. I notice that too. A little while ago I saw a Prius with the vanity plate "PIOUS" and had to stifle the urge to stop the driver and give 'em a slap. Too much.....

Ever watch South Park?

It sounds like the Prius driver could have taught you a few things about humor.

I usually pass the hypermilers so they can see my huge black plume of diesel exhaust and hope they see that their self-righteousness caused that to come about, so they're actually wasting MORE fuel and doing WORSE damage to the environment by making everyone mash it and pass when they get the chance.

 

[HIglesias]

Then it wouldn't much of a problem to go around would it

a while back i worked at a testing facility for a certain japanese car manufacturer in AZ. we had a huge 5.7 mile oval for vehicle testing. anyway, it had 5 or 6 lanes. each lane had a specific speed you had to drive within.
for example, the furthest inside lane speed was 35 or lower. while the lane on the banking was 100+. period. no if and or buts, you're not doing 100+, stay out of the fast lane. likewise for all the other lanes.

we need something like this. i heard it was illegal to pass on the right on the autobahn. because if your gonna get passed, you should be on the right already. no nonsense

 

[ontherearwheel]

a while back i worked at a testing facility for a certain japanese car manufacturer in AZ. we had a huge 5.7 mile oval for vehicle testing. anyway, it had 5 or 6 lanes. each lane had a specific speed you had to drive within.
for example, the furthest inside lane speed was 35 or lower. while the lane on the banking was 100+. period. no if and or buts, you're not doing 100+, stay out of the fast lane. likewise for all the other lanes.

we need something like this. i heard it was illegal to pass on the right on the autobahn. because if your gonna get passed, you should be on the right already. no nonsense

I agree. In addition, there should be something about formation driving. You know, when two cars with no one in front of them are doing the same speed side by side and holding up two lanes of traffic.

Truckers on 5 are really good at that.

 

[Razel]

Truckers on 5 are really good at that.

They're good at passing each other with a 1-2 MPH differential. Faster one doing 61 ...

 

[snowflow mfg]

I got a $500 ticket for going 5mph under the speed limit on 99 by a Fresno CHP.

Fucked up IMO.

 

[cardinal03]

All in all, based on the fact that the Prius was holding up cars who wanted to go faster (whether 46, 50, 55 mph or whatever) it seems to me the Prius driver should have moved to the adjacent lane, allowed traffic to go past, and then gotten back into the carpool lane.

I think that based on the fact that 1) non-carpool drivers shouldn't be jumping into the carpool lane and 2) drivers legitimately in the carpool lane should check that the lane is open before they pull into the carpool lane that I could safely have traveled at 55-65mph and that the Prius was impeding traffic.

 

[nweaver]

I think that based on the fact that 1) non-carpool drivers shouldn't be jumping into the carpool lane and 2) drivers legitimately in the carpool lane should check that the lane is open before they pull into the carpool lane that I could safely have traveled at 55-65mph and that the Prius was impeding traffic.

Get nearly smacked by a jumping out car and you'll change your tune. Trust me, having experienced a near crash when someone did that shit, 45 MPH in the carpool lane is a safe and prudent speed when the #2 lane is stop and go.

Simply put, although #1 and #2 are nice in theory, if you want to rely on it in practice you are asking for :rip

Being not at fault in the crash doesn't make you any less dead.