Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Letter of the Law

I was heading to a meeting yesterday, and in order to get there in a fairly quick amount of time, I decided to take the highway. What I didn't count on were the ramp signals, already on, at 1:15 in the afternoon!!

So, like a good little girl, I waited and waited and waited, in the lane for single occupant vehicles, which was quite long for that time of day. And let me tell you, you have a lot of time to observe the things around you when you're moving 0 miles per hour.

One of things I noticed was the traffic stacking up behind us. As one car was allowed to go, 3 more were added to the queue, until there was literally a solid line of cars stretching the entire length of the ramp, all the way back to the intersection.

I also like to watch the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lane to see if people are truly obeying the "more than one person in the car" rule. Actually, I don't know why I do this, because it inevitably just makes me mad, because there's always someone who feels like the rule doesn't apply to them...


And just as I'm thinking this, a big yellow school bus goes by in the HOV lane. Now normally buses are allowed to use that lane because they carry a large amount of people, thus meeting the criteria. However, this particular bus was completely empty, except for the driver.

Here then was the rub: Buses are allowed to use the HOV lane--it's even posted on a sign above the lane. But is it right for them to use that lane if they are not carrying any passengers? In other words, they are the same as any other single occupancy vehicle because only one person is on board.
Should they be allowed to use the HOV lane, regardless if they have passengers, just because the sign says they can? Or should they use the regular lanes when not carrying anyone else?

I know, I know. With all the problems there are in the world, some of you are probably saying, "Get a life. This is SO not a big deal, and not worth wasting any brain power on". But it was something that made me go hmm, and I was just wondering what other people thought...

Also, be very excited :-) This Thursday I promise to post a very yummy & easy dessert--so easy you'll wonder why you've never tried it before!

k~

3 comments:

Y said...

Well, if this makes you feel better....I was thinking the same thing the other day (at the traffic light right by our church).

There were a few people in the HOV lane (by the way thank you for posting this, I drove all the way to work trying to think what HOV stand for!)...they just ignored the rule and drove in that lane..little that they know, the police was already waiting for them at the end of the lane.

RE: Buses. I think it's OK for the bus to be in the HOV lane. Even though it's only one person in the vehicle, the bus still occupies the same space regardless, which could easily be filled with 2-3 cars.

My .02 cents.

Kristin said...

Thanks for your insight Humble! I'm glad I'm not the only one that muses about these things :-)

k~

Christine said...

I agree...I am sure that buses have stipulations to their usage of that lane. They may have schedules and such that they need to maintain.

Besides, I think that there is a rule somewhere that all extra-large vehicles can do whatever they want. You know...they're bigger than you...and they'll squish you if you don't let them do whatever they want! That is something I have always thought about as these big, overloaded dumptrucks pull out right in front of me. Grrrrr.....I would definitely pay the higher price if I just crashed into them. Okay....I'll quit rambling....