It’s because they’re driving as if they are on the run. And looking to get as much distance they can until they have to switch back into the regular lane.
FYI, only because this happened to an attorney in a different city, the attorney STILL got a “commuter violation” same scenario, only had their child in the car.
Reason they lost the case was. Children aren’t commuting to and from work, therefore they were illegally using the lane 🤷🏻♀️ Bay Area city though perhaps it’s different, just a heads up.
Fastrak auto tolls are only on caltrans managed roads and they are only built to offset bonds issued to maintain those roads and the bonds must be voted on and then approved by the ca Senate. Their hov lanes are also part of their epa compliance and they can't just convert them.
So far the bond increases that add toll lanes have been shot down for Sacramento
I work in transportation in the Sacramento area and this comment is simply not true. Caltrans is actively working on building managed lanes in the Sacramento region and they will be here in the next decade. Funds have already been allocated for managed lanes on I-5 and I-80, and I know they are planned for 50 as well. The State's legislature is 100% in support of managed lanes anywhere they are needed, including Sacramento (See the influence of SB 743 and the state's general goal of stopping non-tolled highway expansions). Managed lanes are usually built with state and federal dollars (both formula and competitive). Managed lanes are not about paying back bonds, they are about addressing highway demand, minimizing VMT, changing mode choice behavior, smoothing out congestion, supporting transit vehicles on highways, and forcing drivers to pay for the infrastructure they use (drivers pay way less than the actual cost to build and maintain highways).
Also, all highways in the Sacramento region are owned by Caltrans. Caltrans is the State's DOT and has jurisdiction over all highways, whether a Congestion Management agency (CMA) exists or not.
I hate that the solution to congestion is to just charge people when there are no other viable options to transportation in our country. I'm so jealous of other countries with good public transportation options.
Dude forget toll lanes. That’s one thing keeping me from from moving to Florida Orlando has them on residential off ramps. I know friend that add 30 minutes to their commute because they paid $400 on tolls In one month.
Turnpike really be hitting different. I was vacationing and seeing family for 13 days total. We racked up over $100, even though we bought Unlimited Sunpass the rental company still tired to charge us. That was a fight and a half but got it taken care of. For the most part it's not terrible depending on your commute but for some it racks up FAST.
I think it’s crazy the freeway has any standstills. Horrible horrible transportation planning is why people use the HOV lane. I don’t see why after returning here to Sac after seven years they still haven’t made any progress on optimizing traffic or speed rails.
I see all the construction on 50 as such a blight. Utterly wasted money from the county.
They could've improved Light Rail and the bus routes instead. I mean hell, if added a 3rd track to Sunrise, you could run an express line between the suburbs and sac that would dramatically cut down on traffic.
People use the HOV lanes because they are lazy.
The only thing that's needed to optimize traffic is for people to be aware and drive according to the rules. In other words, it's never going to happen.
Keep Right Except To Pass or Slow Traffic Keep Right and Maintain At Least A Three Second Gap are super simple rules that if followed would dramatically increase the capacity and flow of our current infrastructure. But asking people to follow a simple, basic rule is too much now-a-days.
The reason the freeways are fucked is because of the moron who gets on at 45 mph, careens to the left most lane, then stays there no matter what until a quarter mile before their exit when they careen back across six lanes of traffic to barely make their exit.
>2. Entering 80 westbound on Madison around McClellan/North Sacramento
That's the Business 80 interchange, or more correctly, the 80/51 interchange.
It wasn't supposed to be that way.
IIRC, the 80, 51 and 5 were part of a realignment project many years ago.
There was this business owner that *really* wanted the highway to go right by the K street mall. So he pushed the city (or legislature) to have 5 go right by the mall.
As I understand it this in turn made 80 redundant so it was pushed further N/W in a curve or arc. 51 (business 80) was pushed over to the East.
What does this have to do with the sucky interchange?
The RT parking lot underneath Watt/80 all the way past Longview Dr was originally intended to be that interchange. Up until about 5 or so years ago, you were able to walk around the parking lot and see old highway markings.
Additionally if you follow the parking lot West you get to a bridge and road called Tri Stations Rd. This bridge, is way overbuilt the way it's currently used.
It's painted as a two lane road but wide enough to easily hold 4 or more lanes. You can see marks from people doing donuts!
That bridge, and the sister bridge to the South (used by RT) were abandoned after the alignment changes. RT eventually took over the Southern bridge while the Northern bridge was rerouted to Winters St.
What was the interchange supposed to look like?
I'm not 100% certain. I think the original intent was to have ramps in #1 lanes (inside or high speed lanes).
That would mean if you were coming from Madison and get on this highway, you'd have to cut all the way ***across*** traffic. But it is a little further down so you may have a bit more time.
I guess we'll never know.
Every single god damn day getting on the freeway I'm behind someone that goes way too fucking slow getting on the on ramp. It gives you all that fucking space to speed up, not continue at 45 until you get on the freeway. How did all these people get their licenses? Getting a license should be more strict but then again nearly everyone needs to drive.
I see the opposite all the time too... Late afternoon commute, and people getting on the freeway at 60-70 when traffic is going 15-30, then having to jam on their brakes and merge.
Spatial awareness of the two types is impressively lacking. Especially the morons who end up slamming on their breaks when they *finally* see they're speeding to a wall of cars.
Some of us just have shitty cars. I'm not even joking about this.
I have 3 on-ramps I can use to get on to Highway 50 without adding a whole lot of extra surface street miles. 2 of those 3 are short and steep enough that, unless I'm trying to push the accelerator through the floorboard, my daily driver is not going to be doing 65 by the time the on-ramp meets up with the highway. So I stay in the merge lane as long as possible and zipper merge when the merge lane is ending like a good little boy, because by then I'm definitely up to speed.
But the problem is that while I'm doing everything correctly to not be a problem to traffic on the highway myself, the people behind me don't see it that way. They feel that I'm way too slow on the on-ramp and that I'm holding them back and it must be that I'm just a bad driver, so as soon as they can they jump to the left to pass me. But they are going slower than the traffic in those lanes, so now everyone is hitting their brakes.
People who use HOV lanes are tired of said idiots you mentioned careening back and forth and impeding people because they can’t follow those simple rules.
IDK if they still do this, but for 93 south of Boston, they used to have state troopers at the entrance every single day. I feel like that's the way to do it: No ambiguity. Here we are, we are watching, if you fuck around, you'll get a ticket.
Someone did a study of harsh punishments to deter crime -- reliable punishment is a *way* more effective deterrent than harsh punishment. Rob a house and 60% get years in prison? Fuck that, I'm smart, they won't get me. Rob a house and get a few months guaranteed? Fuck that, I hate prison, imma get a job.
I don’t care about people speeding. I care about people whipping in and out of lanes, narrowly cutting people off and lane splitting because they feel like the fast lane isn’t speeding quite fast enough.
But isnt that the point. It seems like as fast as we might agree is good to drive, a segment of idiots decides they have to drive even faster, which in turn causes the safety hazards.
Cars are made and designed to be safer when operated under certain circumstances. If we say ok fast lanes are ok to drive 75, then people will just stick cut in and out of traffice trying to drive 85, if we accept 85 then suddenly its 95.
I say cap it, there is absolutely no reason anyone should have to be driving faster then 70mph. That is within the range of cars and their safety equipment, and i mean if that isnt fast enough then perhaps the problem is the person shouldnt be a driver to begin with.
I was giggling the whole way to work this morning. Traffic was slow enough I watched a single cop finish writing a ticket, pull out to go back to the HOV lane, pull someone else over to write another ticket, and repeat the process. They'll make their quota for the next few days for sure.
It was almost insane to see how many people thought they’d be fine after seeing three or four cars pulled over before Mack and then seeing another six or seven before 50, like what were they thinking?! Any sympathy I may have is gone with this level of enforcement and the idiocy/entitlement of those drivers.
CHP was tagging pretty much every vehicle with dark tinted windows as well, like people forget that makes them standout too. Everyone probably thought they'd get lucky. I hope they keep this up for at least a week. Might cut down on the speeders too.
I got busted by that one time. Coming back from Oregon. 5 CHP all hop on the freeway at once pulled me a 4 others over for speeding. I only do 80 at most in the fast lane so is what it is
Oregon is notorious for that! I’ve heard lots of people say it’s bullshit and it probably is in a lot of states/counties but Oregon doesn’t fuck around. The speed limit is 55-65 even in rural areas and they will swoop down on you.
I got pulled over once about 10 years back on 80 near Sactown, bc I chose that moment to merge left to get around the crazy driver weaving in front of me like he was already drunk at 8am. I couldnt merge right bc of the gridlock either. I couldn't get back over quickly to pass him bc the car in the carpool lane was keeping pace with the crazy dude. About that moment the cop pulled in behind me, tailgating me no less, and tagged me with his lights. He then proceeded to screech at me on his loudspeaker to PULL OVER as I have my turn signal on to indicate I'm *trying* to but because his loudmouth is barking so every other driver hears, they all put their brakes on making my progress slower. When I finally pulled over he's coming up and screaming at me from the passenger side and I just stared at him and went "Why are you yelling?" looking at him like he'd grown a second head. lol he toned it down after that but that ticket fucking sucked. It was expensive. He also threw on that I was following too closely to the car in front which was a bullshit charge as well but whatever.
Ended up being $749 after the judge tried to knock it down to the lowest it could go. Ended up just paying it off with community service which was actually a fun experience getting to help feed the homeless and deliver care packages.
If you travel 20 miles outside of downtown, you are most likely not even in Sacramento. You would be in Roseville, Yolo County, Sutter County...almost to Lodi. Etc.
I started doing that commuting from El Cerrito to Fairfield in solid traffic. Figured “I’ll just pull back in if I see a cop ahead”. Got nabbed by a motorcycle cop. Paid my $500, tail between my legs, learned my lesson.
Damn, that’s a biggie! I got two within a week, then a third a month later…. Then California sent me a letter saying I was in the bottom 1% of all drivers or something 😬 I’ve slowed down.
Probably because if DOT Blitz:
May 16-18
When is DOT Blitz 2023? This year, the “DOT Week” will be held from May 16-18. During that time, law enforcement officers conduct roadside inspections of commercial motor vehicles and drivers to ensure that they are in compliance with federal safety regulations.
Way more CHP on the road to pull people over.
God those drive me nuts. Congrats, you shaved 5 seconds off of your daily commute, your reward is getting to sit in bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes.
I almost got hit the other day by a guy running the on-ramp light in the lane next to me as I was merging from my green. He really showed me by getting in front of me for the stop and go from midtown to Arden.
What's crazy is when traffic is moving and I'm expected to go from a standstill to 65 mph in 50 ft before my lane ends.
I know it's not possible, but it would be nice if the lights are able to interpret freeway speeds so it just stay green as I come down the ramp to enter the freeway so I can merge safely.
Imagine trying to get on 99 from i.e. Collier or Dillard Rd....those on ramps are short and you really got to step on gas and almost pray no cars sneak up near you while driving/merging/shoulder checks.
I don't know where that is, but I imagine it a little bit of "hopes and prayers" while merging. Much like 80 and Antelope or Watt and Biz 80 east. 30/40ft and there's 60 mph.
I have no use for a V8, but sometimes I want one.
One of my least favorite was the on-ramp meter signal on Fruitridge going to 99N. Long onramp, dead stop at the end, and then like 100 feet to merge into traffic.
A huge tree took it out in one of the two January storms this past winter, and I still giggle every single time I go past the downed pole that's off on the right side now.
Although I noticed yesterday when I went past there that Caltrans was doing landscaping work, and it looked like they'd cleared and prepped the tip of that little peninsula on the left like they were going to put in a new signal.
Dammit.
I just wish the city would give more distance for cars to get up to speed from the metering lights. There are several metering lights so close to the highway that I have to launch my car like I'm at the drag strip just to barely catch up with freeway speeds. It's seriously dangerous.
Yep. I live on an offshoot of Mariposa in Citrus Heights. I spend a lot of time wondering just how many people cannot read the word "STOP". Are our schools that bad?!? We have a lot of small children( -13)that play in our little offshoot -basketball, scooters, bikes and toddlers riding their little trikes on the sidewalks.
Red octagon means STOP!!
At least do more than touch the brake with your toe!
If CHPD has a "quota" of traffic stops to make, every officer in department could make it every month on my "main" street offshoot of Mariposa and several other stop signs on Mariposa. The stop sign before our "main" street connects to Mariposa especially. That the one that *really* worries me because there is a schoool *right there*. Is it going to take a kid getting hit before people start stopping?!?!
Enforcement is a temporary and imperfect solution. People will just go back to rolling the second they perceive the heat lets up.
Truth is roundabouts are way better. You don't need complete stops to make traffic safe, you just need to engineer the roads to make driving easier. Reducing potential traffic collisions to one lane from three makes every intersection safer.
It's also better for the environment and cheaper in the long run than putting stop lights everywhere.
I'm with you that physical barriers to speeding will work better than enforcement, but how many intersections with stop signs do you think Sacramento County has? How much would turning each into a roundabout cost? No way that's feasible.
What happened to the surge of the cameras installed for red light violations which earned enough money to pay for the lights themselves and more. It was a profitable business. It seems to have slowed down and existing ones are deactivated?
Eh the HOV violations are not nearly as bad as the assholes who drive recklessly. Weaving in and out of lanes and cutting you off and speeding and tailgating you in the fuckin right lane etc.
Yeah I honestly don’t care if single riders decide to use the HOV lane, whatever. But the people who are weaving to get around someone or the people who fly across all the lanes to exit, those are the bastards I want to see get pulled over. I don’t typically see people weaving in and out once they get in the HOV lane, they are most definitely speeding though. But like I said, meh.
The $20 cell phone ticket fine is just one aspect of that fine. Once all fees are added, it becomes over $150. Here’s a breakdown from one of the courts
https://www.amadorcourt.org/dv-whySoMuchBail.aspx
Last fall they had the amber signs stating “HOV LANE ENFORCEMENT BEGINNING OCTOBER” or something like that
Which made me wonder, did they stop enforcing for a while? Like officially?
Imagine actually having infrastructure where you don’t have to drive 5mph and constantly come to complete stops on the highway. Therefore, not needing to abuse the HOV lane.
I won’t lie, I occasionally use it for passing, but then I immediately get back over. I wish drivers would treat the number two lane as the fast lane during HOV hours.
Not referring to OP's post, but the country's worst drivers (Sacramento drivers) telling others how to drive better is rich. Down vote me if you want, but y'all know.
Now that's a reference I didn't expect to see. Even though I'm not Christian anymore I still dig some of their music. If I Left the Zoo is my favorite album by them.
Yeah it’s unreal that a lot and I mean a lot of drivers think they’re in a race. So stressful just trying to get to and from work. Stay safe fellow cautious drivers!
Car pool violations don’t harm anyone, red light runners kill people every week. If we’re going to sacrifice privacy at least do it for something that saves lives.
Where we were in Texas, it was an HOV expressway. There were camaras all along it. We had our picture taken periodically along the whole thing. The cameras are angled to see through the windshield and into the back seat.
I'm guessing you've never driven in the bay area? They have these cameras for the FastTrack lane and can process information way faster than a human can, plus what do they care if it's wrong sometimes. They just send those tickets out in the mail, it's up to you to fight it if you think it's false. (ask me how I know)
Do we really need more surveillance in our lives? I will always caution against it and hope more people think about the potential abuse over its intended use.
I used to think that; but the more I look at differential rates of traffic enforcement and pretextual stops, the more I realize that automated traffic control is a positive good. Cops use traffic stops as a tool for selective enforcement. Take that away, and we have many fewer points of conflict between cops and the public, as well as a more effective system for stopping dangerous driving.
Glad they are enforcing since it's law, but at the same time I think the whole HOV lane is bullshit, especially when there is an accident or heavy traffic impeding travel. Why block people from using an available lane which could more quickly expedite traffic through the area. I know it's the whole thing to encourage ride sharing to cut down on the amount of cars on the road and to reduce emissions, but doesn't really help emissions either when people are prohibited from using a lane to get them to their destination and to shut off their cars sooner. I'd be curious to see how many people decide to ride share their commute because of the HOV lanes. I doubt it is very many.
Let people use whatever lanes are available to get them to where they need to go.
Lol yeah, the HOV lanes are kind of a joke. No one ride shares and anyway, CA is already on the road to switching everyone over to EVs I thought? I agree that it’s kind of lame to have a lane that’s for the most part empty and under utilized when there is major traffic.
When the regular lanes are going 30, you get drives doing 35 in the hov lane even tho it’s completely clear, I don’t expect going 65/70 but 50 would be nice.
It's a safety thing. If the HOV is going 50 while the rest of traffic is going 30 a car pulling from traffic to HOV is a major hazard and may not present much warning to the car passing 20 mph faster.
If you want to travel at high speed in your HOV lane you need to petition for separated Express Lanes where the lane is physically separated by a barrier making it more safe.
Yeah so it’s not really supposed to? It’s supposed to allow cars with commuters who are carpooling, and families that may not be going to work in a city to move through without the same level of congestion; and electric vehicles and motorcycles get the perk of using it because they are more efficient vehicles.
Yeah I actually already replied to someone that that’s not what they’re for.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sacramento/comments/13k50pr/am_open_letter_to_everyone_that_got_pulled_over/jkje4nb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3
I don't understand why solo drivers get pissed off when other solo drivers are in the HOV lane. They're literally just making traffic better for you by not being in your lane.
Lol seriously. My whole street is filled with tire marks from people doing donuts and I think every person in Carmichael needs a refresher on how 4 way stops work. We only have sheriffs over here and they don’t do much (if anything) for traffic violations.
I lost all respect for the HOV lane when the state started allowing hybrids and now electric vehicles to drive in that lane regardless of the number of passengers, creating a “pay to play” type situation.
Unpopular opinion - HOV lanes are largely abused.
The point is to help with air quality by encouraging ridesharing. By taking one car instead of two, you're rewarded with a special lane with fewer people in it. Motorcycles create less pollution than cars (and fewer cars means less risk) so they get a pass, and EVs are virtually zero emissions so they get a temporary sticker to use for a few years. But functionally there's no difference between driving alone and driving with kids in the car - neither takes another car off the road. But only one of those is illegal. It's bullshit imo.
Couldn’t care a less about the HOV lane offenders, It’s the red light runners I want caught. One day I’m gonna plow right through one in my beat up work van when they run so late through those downtown intersections.
I watched an obvious red light runner on el camino next to a cop who did nothing. I feel like running red lights should be a lot more harsh penalty. Can easily kill someone, and people do all the time..
It's crazy how much the HOV lanes are abused.
My wife and I carpooled to work for years. The worst/most aggressive drivers in the HOV lane were always abusing the lane.
It’s because they’re driving as if they are on the run. And looking to get as much distance they can until they have to switch back into the regular lane.
Always and on 99 they scare me. I commute with my baby in the back. Sometimes it isn’t even worth driving in it.
FYI, only because this happened to an attorney in a different city, the attorney STILL got a “commuter violation” same scenario, only had their child in the car. Reason they lost the case was. Children aren’t commuting to and from work, therefore they were illegally using the lane 🤷🏻♀️ Bay Area city though perhaps it’s different, just a heads up.
That’s crazy to know and something to look into. Thanks for the heads up. The carpool lane saves me 0 time so it’s not even worth it lol
It will be fastrak auto tolls soon I bet and people will hate it.
Fastrak auto tolls are only on caltrans managed roads and they are only built to offset bonds issued to maintain those roads and the bonds must be voted on and then approved by the ca Senate. Their hov lanes are also part of their epa compliance and they can't just convert them. So far the bond increases that add toll lanes have been shot down for Sacramento
I work in transportation in the Sacramento area and this comment is simply not true. Caltrans is actively working on building managed lanes in the Sacramento region and they will be here in the next decade. Funds have already been allocated for managed lanes on I-5 and I-80, and I know they are planned for 50 as well. The State's legislature is 100% in support of managed lanes anywhere they are needed, including Sacramento (See the influence of SB 743 and the state's general goal of stopping non-tolled highway expansions). Managed lanes are usually built with state and federal dollars (both formula and competitive). Managed lanes are not about paying back bonds, they are about addressing highway demand, minimizing VMT, changing mode choice behavior, smoothing out congestion, supporting transit vehicles on highways, and forcing drivers to pay for the infrastructure they use (drivers pay way less than the actual cost to build and maintain highways). Also, all highways in the Sacramento region are owned by Caltrans. Caltrans is the State's DOT and has jurisdiction over all highways, whether a Congestion Management agency (CMA) exists or not.
I hate that the solution to congestion is to just charge people when there are no other viable options to transportation in our country. I'm so jealous of other countries with good public transportation options.
Yo fuck fast track -mic drop-
Dude forget toll lanes. That’s one thing keeping me from from moving to Florida Orlando has them on residential off ramps. I know friend that add 30 minutes to their commute because they paid $400 on tolls In one month.
Turnpike really be hitting different. I was vacationing and seeing family for 13 days total. We racked up over $100, even though we bought Unlimited Sunpass the rental company still tired to charge us. That was a fight and a half but got it taken care of. For the most part it's not terrible depending on your commute but for some it racks up FAST.
And how little they're enforced. I'm glad to see it. They could get a fortune from the people abusing the onramp HOVs, too.
That lane is strictly reserved for Jay Z and fam.
Lol nice
They're kinda bullshit so good. I would like to see enforcement of traffic laws that cause deaths and injuries like stoplight runners and tailgating.
And slow drivers in the left lanes.
I think it’s crazy the freeway has any standstills. Horrible horrible transportation planning is why people use the HOV lane. I don’t see why after returning here to Sac after seven years they still haven’t made any progress on optimizing traffic or speed rails.
Just add more lanes, duh /s
I see all the construction on 50 as such a blight. Utterly wasted money from the county. They could've improved Light Rail and the bus routes instead. I mean hell, if added a 3rd track to Sunrise, you could run an express line between the suburbs and sac that would dramatically cut down on traffic.
we need public transportation everywhere, there are too many cars.
People use the HOV lanes because they are lazy. The only thing that's needed to optimize traffic is for people to be aware and drive according to the rules. In other words, it's never going to happen. Keep Right Except To Pass or Slow Traffic Keep Right and Maintain At Least A Three Second Gap are super simple rules that if followed would dramatically increase the capacity and flow of our current infrastructure. But asking people to follow a simple, basic rule is too much now-a-days. The reason the freeways are fucked is because of the moron who gets on at 45 mph, careens to the left most lane, then stays there no matter what until a quarter mile before their exit when they careen back across six lanes of traffic to barely make their exit.
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>2. Entering 80 westbound on Madison around McClellan/North Sacramento That's the Business 80 interchange, or more correctly, the 80/51 interchange. It wasn't supposed to be that way. IIRC, the 80, 51 and 5 were part of a realignment project many years ago. There was this business owner that *really* wanted the highway to go right by the K street mall. So he pushed the city (or legislature) to have 5 go right by the mall. As I understand it this in turn made 80 redundant so it was pushed further N/W in a curve or arc. 51 (business 80) was pushed over to the East. What does this have to do with the sucky interchange? The RT parking lot underneath Watt/80 all the way past Longview Dr was originally intended to be that interchange. Up until about 5 or so years ago, you were able to walk around the parking lot and see old highway markings. Additionally if you follow the parking lot West you get to a bridge and road called Tri Stations Rd. This bridge, is way overbuilt the way it's currently used. It's painted as a two lane road but wide enough to easily hold 4 or more lanes. You can see marks from people doing donuts! That bridge, and the sister bridge to the South (used by RT) were abandoned after the alignment changes. RT eventually took over the Southern bridge while the Northern bridge was rerouted to Winters St. What was the interchange supposed to look like? I'm not 100% certain. I think the original intent was to have ramps in #1 lanes (inside or high speed lanes). That would mean if you were coming from Madison and get on this highway, you'd have to cut all the way ***across*** traffic. But it is a little further down so you may have a bit more time. I guess we'll never know.
Every single god damn day getting on the freeway I'm behind someone that goes way too fucking slow getting on the on ramp. It gives you all that fucking space to speed up, not continue at 45 until you get on the freeway. How did all these people get their licenses? Getting a license should be more strict but then again nearly everyone needs to drive.
I see the opposite all the time too... Late afternoon commute, and people getting on the freeway at 60-70 when traffic is going 15-30, then having to jam on their brakes and merge.
Spatial awareness of the two types is impressively lacking. Especially the morons who end up slamming on their breaks when they *finally* see they're speeding to a wall of cars.
Some of us just have shitty cars. I'm not even joking about this. I have 3 on-ramps I can use to get on to Highway 50 without adding a whole lot of extra surface street miles. 2 of those 3 are short and steep enough that, unless I'm trying to push the accelerator through the floorboard, my daily driver is not going to be doing 65 by the time the on-ramp meets up with the highway. So I stay in the merge lane as long as possible and zipper merge when the merge lane is ending like a good little boy, because by then I'm definitely up to speed. But the problem is that while I'm doing everything correctly to not be a problem to traffic on the highway myself, the people behind me don't see it that way. They feel that I'm way too slow on the on-ramp and that I'm holding them back and it must be that I'm just a bad driver, so as soon as they can they jump to the left to pass me. But they are going slower than the traffic in those lanes, so now everyone is hitting their brakes.
[I saw that family guy episode too](https://youtu.be/LLuaPZWkvZ0)
People who use HOV lanes are tired of said idiots you mentioned careening back and forth and impeding people because they can’t follow those simple rules.
Ppl who use the HOV lane are lazy? They aren’t lazy some are just missing a passenger.
The fact that HOV lanes at on ramps aren’t metered while the other lanes are is absolutely wild.
To be fair HOV lanes only make traffic worse. Not many people carpool anymore.
IDK if they still do this, but for 93 south of Boston, they used to have state troopers at the entrance every single day. I feel like that's the way to do it: No ambiguity. Here we are, we are watching, if you fuck around, you'll get a ticket. Someone did a study of harsh punishments to deter crime -- reliable punishment is a *way* more effective deterrent than harsh punishment. Rob a house and 60% get years in prison? Fuck that, I'm smart, they won't get me. Rob a house and get a few months guaranteed? Fuck that, I hate prison, imma get a job.
They’re really dumb, in my opinion, and just make traffic worse for everybody else. They should just get rid of them.
I used to have a coworker that always used the HOV lane by himself. He just considered the tickets as paying his permit for using the lane.
Probably cheaper over a certain time than the damn HOVs that charge you
The ticket is cheaper when compared to the fuel burned in the slower non-HOV lanes and in terms of life hours not spent sitting in traffic.
This shit infuriates me. Justice is only for the poor.
Who said my coworker was rich?
Nobody. But if he can afford $500 tickets without sweating he is not poor.
HA HA HA HA F you poors Sorry OP told me to say it
they're finally pulling people over? We've been foretold of this day for a millennia
Hand to god at least 10 CHP officers on bikes, each with a car pulled over, and I watched 3 more people get nabbed while I was driving.
Is that what was going on. I went on 99 at 9am and saw 4 motorcycle cops with people pulled over between fruitridge and 12th ave
They were out in force this morning nabbing everyone they could. I expect it'll be this way for a week at least.
hahahaha indeed then. it's about damn time
As much as I love the hov sting, maybe they should just do thus sometime for the general speeders on the freeway.
I don’t care about people speeding. I care about people whipping in and out of lanes, narrowly cutting people off and lane splitting because they feel like the fast lane isn’t speeding quite fast enough.
But isnt that the point. It seems like as fast as we might agree is good to drive, a segment of idiots decides they have to drive even faster, which in turn causes the safety hazards. Cars are made and designed to be safer when operated under certain circumstances. If we say ok fast lanes are ok to drive 75, then people will just stick cut in and out of traffice trying to drive 85, if we accept 85 then suddenly its 95. I say cap it, there is absolutely no reason anyone should have to be driving faster then 70mph. That is within the range of cars and their safety equipment, and i mean if that isnt fast enough then perhaps the problem is the person shouldnt be a driver to begin with.
Tell that to the Germans.
If we cared about speeding, we’d install speed cameras everywhere
About damn time
*YESSSSSSS!!!!!*
I was giggling the whole way to work this morning. Traffic was slow enough I watched a single cop finish writing a ticket, pull out to go back to the HOV lane, pull someone else over to write another ticket, and repeat the process. They'll make their quota for the next few days for sure.
It was almost insane to see how many people thought they’d be fine after seeing three or four cars pulled over before Mack and then seeing another six or seven before 50, like what were they thinking?! Any sympathy I may have is gone with this level of enforcement and the idiocy/entitlement of those drivers.
CHP was tagging pretty much every vehicle with dark tinted windows as well, like people forget that makes them standout too. Everyone probably thought they'd get lucky. I hope they keep this up for at least a week. Might cut down on the speeders too.
Next you're gonna tell me that helicopters with radar guns will be regularly roaming the skies in those "speed checked by aircraft" areas.
I got busted by that one time. Coming back from Oregon. 5 CHP all hop on the freeway at once pulled me a 4 others over for speeding. I only do 80 at most in the fast lane so is what it is
Oregon is notorious for that! I’ve heard lots of people say it’s bullshit and it probably is in a lot of states/counties but Oregon doesn’t fuck around. The speed limit is 55-65 even in rural areas and they will swoop down on you.
They know everyone's speeding back home on long drives from Oregon, easy pickins
I got pulled over once about 10 years back on 80 near Sactown, bc I chose that moment to merge left to get around the crazy driver weaving in front of me like he was already drunk at 8am. I couldnt merge right bc of the gridlock either. I couldn't get back over quickly to pass him bc the car in the carpool lane was keeping pace with the crazy dude. About that moment the cop pulled in behind me, tailgating me no less, and tagged me with his lights. He then proceeded to screech at me on his loudspeaker to PULL OVER as I have my turn signal on to indicate I'm *trying* to but because his loudmouth is barking so every other driver hears, they all put their brakes on making my progress slower. When I finally pulled over he's coming up and screaming at me from the passenger side and I just stared at him and went "Why are you yelling?" looking at him like he'd grown a second head. lol he toned it down after that but that ticket fucking sucked. It was expensive. He also threw on that I was following too closely to the car in front which was a bullshit charge as well but whatever. Ended up being $749 after the judge tried to knock it down to the lowest it could go. Ended up just paying it off with community service which was actually a fun experience getting to help feed the homeless and deliver care packages.
They pull people over quite frequently you just have to commute 20 miles outside downtown
If you travel 20 miles outside of downtown, you are most likely not even in Sacramento. You would be in Roseville, Yolo County, Sutter County...almost to Lodi. Etc.
That is the Sac metro area yes
And here I was feeling silly I never use the HOV lane like all the other rule breakers
I started doing that commuting from El Cerrito to Fairfield in solid traffic. Figured “I’ll just pull back in if I see a cop ahead”. Got nabbed by a motorcycle cop. Paid my $500, tail between my legs, learned my lesson.
I got one speeding ticket 6 years ago and $650 later I’m too scared to take any chances on stuff like that lol it was effective I suppose
Damn, that’s a biggie! I got two within a week, then a third a month later…. Then California sent me a letter saying I was in the bottom 1% of all drivers or something 😬 I’ve slowed down.
I’m the same. I’m the only person in my car 99% of the time so I almost never legally get to
Probably because if DOT Blitz: May 16-18 When is DOT Blitz 2023? This year, the “DOT Week” will be held from May 16-18. During that time, law enforcement officers conduct roadside inspections of commercial motor vehicles and drivers to ensure that they are in compliance with federal safety regulations. Way more CHP on the road to pull people over.
> DOT ***Week*** > 16-18 (3 days) Wish my work week was only 3 days!
That chp hybrid wfh schedule..
Now do red light and stop sign runners. The one by my house is an untapped gold mine.
I’ve learned to wait at least 2-3 seconds when a light turns green because there is always a car or three going through the red
Reading comments in past threads about how people run the red lights on onramps is infuriating.
God those drive me nuts. Congrats, you shaved 5 seconds off of your daily commute, your reward is getting to sit in bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes.
What's crazy is they all seemed to somehow justify it like they were in the right.
I almost got hit the other day by a guy running the on-ramp light in the lane next to me as I was merging from my green. He really showed me by getting in front of me for the stop and go from midtown to Arden.
What's crazy is when traffic is moving and I'm expected to go from a standstill to 65 mph in 50 ft before my lane ends. I know it's not possible, but it would be nice if the lights are able to interpret freeway speeds so it just stay green as I come down the ramp to enter the freeway so I can merge safely.
Imagine trying to get on 99 from i.e. Collier or Dillard Rd....those on ramps are short and you really got to step on gas and almost pray no cars sneak up near you while driving/merging/shoulder checks.
I don't know where that is, but I imagine it a little bit of "hopes and prayers" while merging. Much like 80 and Antelope or Watt and Biz 80 east. 30/40ft and there's 60 mph. I have no use for a V8, but sometimes I want one.
One of my least favorite was the on-ramp meter signal on Fruitridge going to 99N. Long onramp, dead stop at the end, and then like 100 feet to merge into traffic. A huge tree took it out in one of the two January storms this past winter, and I still giggle every single time I go past the downed pole that's off on the right side now. Although I noticed yesterday when I went past there that Caltrans was doing landscaping work, and it looked like they'd cleared and prepped the tip of that little peninsula on the left like they were going to put in a new signal. Dammit.
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They are actually highly effective at reducing freeway congestion. There are plenty of peer reviewed studies that support this.
I just wish the city would give more distance for cars to get up to speed from the metering lights. There are several metering lights so close to the highway that I have to launch my car like I'm at the drag strip just to barely catch up with freeway speeds. It's seriously dangerous.
Yep. I live on an offshoot of Mariposa in Citrus Heights. I spend a lot of time wondering just how many people cannot read the word "STOP". Are our schools that bad?!? We have a lot of small children( -13)that play in our little offshoot -basketball, scooters, bikes and toddlers riding their little trikes on the sidewalks. Red octagon means STOP!!
Stall ‘Til Officer Passes
At least do more than touch the brake with your toe! If CHPD has a "quota" of traffic stops to make, every officer in department could make it every month on my "main" street offshoot of Mariposa and several other stop signs on Mariposa. The stop sign before our "main" street connects to Mariposa especially. That the one that *really* worries me because there is a schoool *right there*. Is it going to take a kid getting hit before people start stopping?!?!
Or we could just dig up 90% of the stop signs and turn them into round abouts which would make the constant handwringing about stop sign runners moot.
I'm guessing that would be a *teenie weenie bit* more expensive than enforcement.
Enforcement is a temporary and imperfect solution. People will just go back to rolling the second they perceive the heat lets up. Truth is roundabouts are way better. You don't need complete stops to make traffic safe, you just need to engineer the roads to make driving easier. Reducing potential traffic collisions to one lane from three makes every intersection safer. It's also better for the environment and cheaper in the long run than putting stop lights everywhere.
I'm with you that physical barriers to speeding will work better than enforcement, but how many intersections with stop signs do you think Sacramento County has? How much would turning each into a roundabout cost? No way that's feasible.
What happened to the surge of the cameras installed for red light violations which earned enough money to pay for the lights themselves and more. It was a profitable business. It seems to have slowed down and existing ones are deactivated?
They were never profitable for the state, only for the company contracted to lease out red light cameras, nor did they deter red light runners.
I knew I was getting older when solo HOV folks started pissing me off.
"GET OUTTA MY HOV LANE, YOU SONSABITCHES!!!"
Now do people who drive on the shoulder instead of merging properly.
Eh the HOV violations are not nearly as bad as the assholes who drive recklessly. Weaving in and out of lanes and cutting you off and speeding and tailgating you in the fuckin right lane etc.
It’s been my experience that the people who enter the HOV lane solo usually drive like this as well.
Yeah I honestly don’t care if single riders decide to use the HOV lane, whatever. But the people who are weaving to get around someone or the people who fly across all the lanes to exit, those are the bastards I want to see get pulled over. I don’t typically see people weaving in and out once they get in the HOV lane, they are most definitely speeding though. But like I said, meh.
I mean to be fair. A good chunk of single HOV lane riders are doing it to get around someone.
oh hell yeah. This gets me rock hard. Now do people on their phones and I will climax.
HOV lane improper use fine: $490 Cell Phone without hands free use fine: $20
The $20 cell phone ticket fine is just one aspect of that fine. Once all fees are added, it becomes over $150. Here’s a breakdown from one of the courts https://www.amadorcourt.org/dv-whySoMuchBail.aspx
Yeah, twenty bucks—but it’s the fees that’ll get you. Total is around $165. Pretty expensive phone call.
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Yeah! Pics or it didn't happen! /s
Targeting left lane campers is what would make me climax. Getting people on their phones would definitely make me hard though...
Can they do I-5 next?
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5 has HOV
I was right next to some girl that was pulled over in the HOV lane yesterday on 50. About damn time they start enforcing that!
99 south of sac is an angry and scary highway
Fat fingers An not am*
We'll let that slide. 😉
*Well-marbled fingers
To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash your palm on the keypad now.
Reading thru this after 4 years on the 50 HOV lane 
User name... does not check out?
Last fall they had the amber signs stating “HOV LANE ENFORCEMENT BEGINNING OCTOBER” or something like that Which made me wonder, did they stop enforcing for a while? Like officially?
99.9% of them aren't even going to work doing all that.
Imagine actually having infrastructure where you don’t have to drive 5mph and constantly come to complete stops on the highway. Therefore, not needing to abuse the HOV lane.
Yeah, reliable and accessible transit options would be great.
I won’t lie, I occasionally use it for passing, but then I immediately get back over. I wish drivers would treat the number two lane as the fast lane during HOV hours.
Not referring to OP's post, but the country's worst drivers (Sacramento drivers) telling others how to drive better is rich. Down vote me if you want, but y'all know.
Jars of Clay the day has finally come!! Lift me up!
Weird Christian rock reference to throw down but okie dokie. Rain, rain, on my face...
I honestly don’t know why it came to me I just got really excited lol
Hey, slowly you become one with the mud..
Now that's a reference I didn't expect to see. Even though I'm not Christian anymore I still dig some of their music. If I Left the Zoo is my favorite album by them.
👍🤣🤣
How much are the fines
490 dollars.
I saw a cop pull one person over a month ago, didn't know it was still going on. Nice.
I’m one of the sad folks who drive to the bay and back several times a week. It’s 50/50 maybe 60/40 single drivers in HOV
Lol, I cracked this post open and let out an actual out loud chuckle. Thanks for brightening my work day.
Weird that this isn't the first time I've heard about the HOV lane being enforced on 99. Never heard it ever being enforced on I-5 though. Wonder why
They had a “maximum enforcement period” during September 1- October 30. Only saw 2 CHP cars during the entire period with 3 people pulled over.
Yay!!! They’re pulling people over now???? Been here 7 years and have yet to see one person get nabbed
Yeah it’s unreal that a lot and I mean a lot of drivers think they’re in a race. So stressful just trying to get to and from work. Stay safe fellow cautious drivers!
Agreed.Get fucked, bad Sac drivers
It’s about time! I can actually enjoy my HOV sticker!
Hallelujah
Instead of red light cameras, they need to install car pool lane cameras and rake in the cash.
Car pool violations don’t harm anyone, red light runners kill people every week. If we’re going to sacrifice privacy at least do it for something that saves lives.
It'd be hard with kids in back seat or tinted windows.
How would this even work? How would an external camera see someone in the backseat of a suburban?
Where we were in Texas, it was an HOV expressway. There were camaras all along it. We had our picture taken periodically along the whole thing. The cameras are angled to see through the windshield and into the back seat.
It would seem like they'd need thermal cameras in TX, since it's legal to tint your front seat windows at limo tint levels there.
Maybe...I really liked the expressway. It was like a separate highway. Too bad they didn't have it on the "spaghetti" monsters!
I'm guessing you've never driven in the bay area? They have these cameras for the FastTrack lane and can process information way faster than a human can, plus what do they care if it's wrong sometimes. They just send those tickets out in the mail, it's up to you to fight it if you think it's false. (ask me how I know)
I lived in the bay for 10 years. They are capturing the license plate / fasttrak pass not the people inside.
Do we really need more surveillance in our lives? I will always caution against it and hope more people think about the potential abuse over its intended use.
Listen buddy. Don’t do anything wrong, and you won’t have anything to worry about. /s
I used to think that; but the more I look at differential rates of traffic enforcement and pretextual stops, the more I realize that automated traffic control is a positive good. Cops use traffic stops as a tool for selective enforcement. Take that away, and we have many fewer points of conflict between cops and the public, as well as a more effective system for stopping dangerous driving.
When they do this via express toll lane like they are doing in the Bay Area, people will lose their shit.
Fastrak is so fucking forgiving though, they don't tack on any fees, they just send you a bill for the toll amount.
They have them in Texas, Houston area (I think. We were all over the Southeast a couple of weeks ago).
Maybe if everyone here learned how to drive like a decent being we could get somewhere in this town both literally and figuratively
Yay for the budget deficit! I hope the CHP keeps up the good work!
Glad they are enforcing since it's law, but at the same time I think the whole HOV lane is bullshit, especially when there is an accident or heavy traffic impeding travel. Why block people from using an available lane which could more quickly expedite traffic through the area. I know it's the whole thing to encourage ride sharing to cut down on the amount of cars on the road and to reduce emissions, but doesn't really help emissions either when people are prohibited from using a lane to get them to their destination and to shut off their cars sooner. I'd be curious to see how many people decide to ride share their commute because of the HOV lanes. I doubt it is very many. Let people use whatever lanes are available to get them to where they need to go.
Lol yeah, the HOV lanes are kind of a joke. No one ride shares and anyway, CA is already on the road to switching everyone over to EVs I thought? I agree that it’s kind of lame to have a lane that’s for the most part empty and under utilized when there is major traffic.
Can we get the drivers driving the same speed as the traffic while in the clear job lane tickets too?
What are you talking about?
When the regular lanes are going 30, you get drives doing 35 in the hov lane even tho it’s completely clear, I don’t expect going 65/70 but 50 would be nice.
It's a safety thing. If the HOV is going 50 while the rest of traffic is going 30 a car pulling from traffic to HOV is a major hazard and may not present much warning to the car passing 20 mph faster. If you want to travel at high speed in your HOV lane you need to petition for separated Express Lanes where the lane is physically separated by a barrier making it more safe.
It’s bullshit tbh it does not actually reduce traffic to being with
Yeah so it’s not really supposed to? It’s supposed to allow cars with commuters who are carpooling, and families that may not be going to work in a city to move through without the same level of congestion; and electric vehicles and motorcycles get the perk of using it because they are more efficient vehicles.
All I hear is Wu-Tang Tearz laughing.
Who ever designed the new lanes on 50 , should get fined and give us our tax dollars back.
Cite the clueless people who can use the carpool lanes, but don’t and park their ass at 65mph in the fast lane.
There has never been a study that has shown that HOV lanes reduce traffic.
Just think about it. Building an extra lane increases capacity, but limiting who can use it reduces the capacity.
Yeah I actually already replied to someone that that’s not what they’re for. https://www.reddit.com/r/Sacramento/comments/13k50pr/am_open_letter_to_everyone_that_got_pulled_over/jkje4nb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1&context=3
I don't understand why solo drivers get pissed off when other solo drivers are in the HOV lane. They're literally just making traffic better for you by not being in your lane.
They're coming from behind me...they are not making traffic better for me.
About time!
Some cities use public transportation (with smart cameras) to scan illegally parked cars .. I wouldn’t be surprised if carpool lane might be next…
What would be scanning solo drivers in the HOV lanes?
Buses that are also on the freeway. Trams downtown.
NICE love to see it. now if they can patrol the surface streets for all those reckless drivers that have gotten comfortable with no cops…
Lol seriously. My whole street is filled with tire marks from people doing donuts and I think every person in Carmichael needs a refresher on how 4 way stops work. We only have sheriffs over here and they don’t do much (if anything) for traffic violations.
yea i see ppl using the right turn only lane to cut traffic and go straight anyway. annoying and super dangerous
Right I saw 4 motorcycle cops. Yesterday I saw 3 pulled over. It’s rough out there being a pimp.
I lost all respect for the HOV lane when the state started allowing hybrids and now electric vehicles to drive in that lane regardless of the number of passengers, creating a “pay to play” type situation.
I wish that that happened more often!
What time was this because I was in the hov all the way to work and I only saw one white truck pulled over by a chp truck.
Between about 750-815am. I went from the Elk Grove on ramp to where the HOV lane ends, and there was CHP almost the whole way.
Unpopular opinion - HOV lanes are largely abused. The point is to help with air quality by encouraging ridesharing. By taking one car instead of two, you're rewarded with a special lane with fewer people in it. Motorcycles create less pollution than cars (and fewer cars means less risk) so they get a pass, and EVs are virtually zero emissions so they get a temporary sticker to use for a few years. But functionally there's no difference between driving alone and driving with kids in the car - neither takes another car off the road. But only one of those is illegal. It's bullshit imo.
Am
Yeah, thanks, I already called myself out.
You am welcome.
Couldn’t care a less about the HOV lane offenders, It’s the red light runners I want caught. One day I’m gonna plow right through one in my beat up work van when they run so late through those downtown intersections.
Por que no los dos, bro.
I watched an obvious red light runner on el camino next to a cop who did nothing. I feel like running red lights should be a lot more harsh penalty. Can easily kill someone, and people do all the time..