CA HOV Lanes - hybrids OUT EVs IN?

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mwalsh

mwalsh

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Leaf Supporting Member
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Location
Garden Grove, CA
CA has been out of compliance for some time with Federal requirements that it's HOV lanes maintain a minimum rush-hour average speed of 44mph. In trying to bring the State back into compliance, there has been talk about letting the current set of HOV stickers expire; along with the law governing them, come January 2011.

Others say, and I'm in agreement, that it's time for new legislation where hybrids are kicked out and new stickers are issued only to NGVs and EVs. In fact, there is a bill in CA (SB 535), currently inactive, that more or less does just that, raising the minimum combined fuel economy on eligible hybrids to 65mpg (so still allowing PHEVs).

Hybrid owners have had a darn good run for their money, but it's really time to give it up to the next generation.
 
mwalsh said:
CA has been out of compliance for some time with Federal requirements that it's HOV lanes maintain a minimum rush-hour average speed of 44mph. In trying to bring the State back into compliance, there has been talk about letting the current set of HOV stickers expire; along with the law governing them, come January 2011.

Others say, and I'm in agreement, that it's time for new legislation where hybrids are kicked out and new stickers are issued only to NGVs and EVs. In fact, there is a bill in CA (SB 535), currently inactive, that more or less does just that, raising the minimum combined fuel economy on eligible hybrids to 65mpg (so still allowing PHEVs).

Hybrid owners have had a darn good run for their money, but it's really time to give it up to the next generation.
Click to expand...

Boy, if that happens, you'll hear a LOT about those 'damn EV's'!!! Can you imagine the heartburn someone in the carpool lane expecting to do 80+mph who gets behind me in my leaf doing 63mph? Hahahah. I can see the hand gestures now.

:lol:
 
Jimmydreams said:
Boy, if that happens, you'll hear a LOT about those 'damn EV's'!!! Can you imagine the heartburn someone in the carpool lane expecting to do 80+mph who gets behind me in my leaf doing 63mph? Hahahah. I can see the hand gestures now. :lol:
Click to expand...

Got to admit, I think that's a legitimate concern.

You may recall I was thinking of having a decal made for my back window "75mph maximum speed. Please don't tailgate".

I chose 75mph with the expectation (or should that be hope?) that I could do a steady 65 or 70mph without it affecting range to the point that I'd be concerned about doing my round-trip without recharging. It also gave me a bit of a cushion so I could get out of the way of someone really obnoxious. Sometimes it's hard to believe that the maximum speed on most urban highways here is 65mph (but then I'm guilty of ignoring that too, more often than I probably should).
 
I tend to drive my current gas guzzler (*) at no more than 60 MPH to reduce fuel consumption, but occasionally when the freeway is clogged and my wife is on board I will move into the HOV lane. Whenever I do that I keep alert to someone coming up behind me. If there is a gap in front of me I try to find a "hole" so I can shift over a lane and let the person behind pass. If enough EV drivers do that we can make a good name for ourselves rather than inciting road rage.

* No, it's not a Hummer or anything like that, just a Civic, but I still think of it as a guzzler compared to what I want to be driving.
 
planet4ever said:
I tend to drive my current gas guzzler (*) at no more than 60 MPH to reduce fuel consumption, but occasionally when the freeway is clogged and my wife is on board I will move into the HOV lane. Whenever I do that I keep alert to someone coming up behind me. If there is a gap in front of me I try to find a "hole" so I can shift over a lane and let the person behind pass. If enough EV drivers do that we can make a good name for ourselves rather than inciting road rage.

* No, it's not a Hummer or anything like that, just a Civic, but I still think of it as a guzzler compared to what I want to be driving.
Click to expand...
My Prius is my current gas guzzler... and I do exactly what you do in the HOV lane - no matter if I'm in the Prius, or our EV, actually.
 
Jimmydreams said:
Boy, if that happens, you'll hear a LOT about those 'damn EV's'!!! Can you imagine the heartburn someone in the carpool lane expecting to do 80+mph who gets behind me in my leaf doing 63mph? Hahahah. I can see the hand gestures now.

:lol:
Click to expand...


My Dad was very practical about the matter. When I was learning to drive he chided me for traveling the speed limit in the left lane: "What are you doing? You're in the speeding lane!". Not that he was advocating speeding; he just accepted human nature for what it is. And in those terms, the HOV lane is seen by many as the ultimate speeding lane. So yeah, there is some conflict there for a vehicle that you might want to keep on the shy side of the speed limit. Particularly problematic in Southern CA where you get "locked in" to the lane for long stretches.
 
planet4ever said:
I tend to drive my current gas guzzler (*) at no more than 60 MPH to reduce fuel consumption, but occasionally when the freeway is clogged and my wife is on board I will move into the HOV lane. Whenever I do that I keep alert to someone coming up behind me. If there is a gap in front of me I try to find a "hole" so I can shift over a lane and let the person behind pass.
Click to expand...
SoCal drivers can't do that because entry/exit to the HOV lanes is restricted to a few small gaps, and they are planning to do that in the Bay Area as well. There are low ridges, similar to speeds bumps, separating the lanes and blocking people from zipping in and out of the HOV lanes between the official entry/exit points.
 
Rat said:
SoCal drivers can't do that because entry/exit to the HOV lanes is restricted to a few small gaps, and they are planning to do that in the Bay Area as well. There are low ridges, similar to speeds bumps, separating the lanes and blocking people from zipping in and out of the HOV lanes between the official entry/exit points.
Click to expand...

Some OC freeways allow for unrestricted ingress and egress....the 22 comes to mind. It's a much more sensible solution, IMHO. I've seen too many wrecks where HOV lane drivers have slowed significantly to exit and the other traffic in the HOV lane hasn't slowed accordingly.
 
Rat said:
SoCal drivers can't do that because entry/exit to the HOV lanes is restricted to a few small gaps, and they are planning to do that in the Bay Area as well. There are low ridges, similar to speeds bumps, separating the lanes and blocking people from zipping in and out of the HOV lanes between the official entry/exit points.
Click to expand...
Rather than spending those $$ to add a "feature" for HOV lanes, those $$ should be spent fixing the deplorable surface conditions throughout California roads. I'm talking potholes, "sinkholes", cracks, deteriorated edges, "invisible" striping, drainage issues, ..........
 
Crossing the double-double yellow lines (going out or in) is a violation of the "Car Pool Lane", epensive fine, at about $371.

Yet, I see people cross them, perhaps because, in America, one might think of themself actually being "innocent until proven guilty". So, perhaps many figure that they are innocent if they are not actually caught.

In other societies, one is considered "guilty when you do the crime", much different from the USA.
 
garygid said:
Crossing the double-double yellow lines (going out or in) is a violation of the "Car Pool Lane", epensive fine, at about $371.

Yet, I see people cross them, perhaps because, in America, one might think of themself actually being "innocent until proven guilty". So, perhaps many figure that they are innocent if they are not actually caught.

In other societies, one is considered "guilty when you do the crime", much different from the USA.
Click to expand...

And that's the beauty of the 22...no yellow lines. They were talking about expanding this to other OC freeways. I guess they didn't get that far!
 
Right, I have never seen (or noticed it), but might not have been on 22 recently, or maybe ever.

Some entry/exit "zones" are two lanes wide, to allow for safer entry and exit, and some passing.

Freeway I-5, in some places, has large concrete barriers to separate the carpool (HOV) lanes.
 
garygid said:
Crossing the double-double yellow lines (going out or in) is a violation of the "Car Pool Lane", expensive fine, at about $371.

Yet, I see people cross them, perhaps because, in America, one might think of themself actually being "innocent until proven guilty". So, perhaps many figure that they are innocent if they are not actually caught.
Click to expand...
I was one of those violators a couple of years back, when I made a rare trip by car to the LA area from the SF Bay area. I had no idea that carpool lanes might be limited access, and it wasn't until someone honked that it dawned on me I had just crossed a double double yellow line.

Yes, they are going to start using limited access lanes up here, too, but only for ones that double as carpool and "FasTrak" toll lanes.
 
BREAKING NEWS - ARNOLD SIGNS AB1500....HYBRID OWNERS OUT OF HOV LANES JAN. 1, 2011:

http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1046928_california-yanks-prius-perks-no-more-hybrid-hov-lane-access

Wow, this came out of no-place, especially considering we were all watching SB 535!
 
mwalsh said:
BREAKING NEWS - ARNOLD SIGNS AB1500....HYBRID OWNERS OUT OF HOV LANES JAN. 1, 2011:

http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1046928_california-yanks-prius-perks-no-more-hybrid-hov-lane-access

Wow, this came out of no-place, especially considering we were all watching SB 535!
Click to expand...


Your EV just went up in value and there is now more space in the carpool lane:)
 
Does anyone know what happens when there Senate and Assembly bills with overlapping language? SB 535 is coming up behind AB 1500, and the language in it is now more gentle when it comes to Hybrid owners, allowing them to stay until July 1, 2011. If it also becomes law, which has precedence?
 

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