L
lperdue
Guest
What is the name of your state?Caliifornia
Specifically, the double yellow lines marking the HOV lanes and the rules that govern them are completely unknown to drivers outside the four Southern California Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego.
As I will explain, below, this situation, combined with a lack of signage, local road conditions and local driver behavior makes this a situation where visiting drivers have no reasonable way to interpret the meaning of the road markings accurately.
1. Localized Laws Unknown Beyond Southern California
Both the California Department of Transportation and this (http://www.hovworld.com/PDFs/OCTAHOVReport(020819).pdf) report from the Orange County Transportation Authority confirm the absence of double-yellow-line markings for HOV lanes anywhere in California outside SoCalif
2. Local Road Conditions
There exist a number of HOV lane construction projects where the HOV lane ends, then, after a period of miles, resumes. The yellow striping marking the HOV lane is remarkably similar to the yellow striping that bounds the crash barriers protecting the construction zones. Where the HOV lane resumes, the double yellow striping looks very much like a freshly opened HOV lane where the striping has not yet been re-done.
This is especially true for out-of-area visitors coping with an unfamiliar freeway jammed with very fast, aggressive drivers.
3. Local Driver Behavior
A visitor to this area will observe local drivers crossing back and forth over the double yellow line leading to the conclusion that this is an accepted practice. This impression is further reinforced because that is the legal practice and custom for all other HOV lanes in California (as long as the vehicle contains the required minimum number of passengers).
4. Lack of Signage and Context
While not crossing a double yellow line on a hilly, curvy or otherwise dangerous stretch of road is a basic rule of safe driving, it is completely out of context and totally foreign to the driving experience for all drivers outside your area.
Without signage to inform drivers of the HOV striping status, and in the presence of local drivers who regularly cross the lines, an out-of-area driver can only guess at the significance of the lines.
My wife said she thought the striping was a way to remind drivers of the HOV status of the lane.
It has to be obvious by now that I received a ticket for this violation. I can't dispute that I crossed the double yellow line. Indeed, I was driving my family from our hotel near LAX to Disneyland on the morning of April 13, 2004 when I exited the HOV lane on the 91 Freeway in Cerritos, to allow traffic which was tailgating me to pass. I did not want to drive 75 miles per hour or faster as the HOV lane was moving. I let three cars, all with a single occupant pass, then pulled back into the lane which is when I received the citation.
My wife and I were dumbfounded because we had no idea why we were being pulled over. The kids were frightened and confused.
After returning to our hotel room that night, we Googled the Internet and for the first time learned about the double yellow striping and the reasons behind it. But even after this, we couldn't understand how people could know where they could get off the freeway given the fact that the double yellow stripes continue past many exits.
CHEAP, EASY SOLUTION
The solution to this situation is cheap and easy.
Just as HOV lanes have signs informing drivers of the minimum number of people for the lane, the same post could easily have a yellow warning sign that says, "Do not cross double-yellow lines."
This signage has precedent because many, if not most, stretches of double yellow striping down the middle of roads are accompanied by yellow diamond signs that say, "Do not pass."
If the goal of law enforcement is to compel compliance with a law, it should first make sure that the law is clear enough to understand by all who may drive the road, not just those who live in the area.
Specifically, the double yellow lines marking the HOV lanes and the rules that govern them are completely unknown to drivers outside the four Southern California Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego.
As I will explain, below, this situation, combined with a lack of signage, local road conditions and local driver behavior makes this a situation where visiting drivers have no reasonable way to interpret the meaning of the road markings accurately.
1. Localized Laws Unknown Beyond Southern California
Both the California Department of Transportation and this (http://www.hovworld.com/PDFs/OCTAHOVReport(020819).pdf) report from the Orange County Transportation Authority confirm the absence of double-yellow-line markings for HOV lanes anywhere in California outside SoCalif
2. Local Road Conditions
There exist a number of HOV lane construction projects where the HOV lane ends, then, after a period of miles, resumes. The yellow striping marking the HOV lane is remarkably similar to the yellow striping that bounds the crash barriers protecting the construction zones. Where the HOV lane resumes, the double yellow striping looks very much like a freshly opened HOV lane where the striping has not yet been re-done.
This is especially true for out-of-area visitors coping with an unfamiliar freeway jammed with very fast, aggressive drivers.
3. Local Driver Behavior
A visitor to this area will observe local drivers crossing back and forth over the double yellow line leading to the conclusion that this is an accepted practice. This impression is further reinforced because that is the legal practice and custom for all other HOV lanes in California (as long as the vehicle contains the required minimum number of passengers).
4. Lack of Signage and Context
While not crossing a double yellow line on a hilly, curvy or otherwise dangerous stretch of road is a basic rule of safe driving, it is completely out of context and totally foreign to the driving experience for all drivers outside your area.
Without signage to inform drivers of the HOV striping status, and in the presence of local drivers who regularly cross the lines, an out-of-area driver can only guess at the significance of the lines.
My wife said she thought the striping was a way to remind drivers of the HOV status of the lane.
It has to be obvious by now that I received a ticket for this violation. I can't dispute that I crossed the double yellow line. Indeed, I was driving my family from our hotel near LAX to Disneyland on the morning of April 13, 2004 when I exited the HOV lane on the 91 Freeway in Cerritos, to allow traffic which was tailgating me to pass. I did not want to drive 75 miles per hour or faster as the HOV lane was moving. I let three cars, all with a single occupant pass, then pulled back into the lane which is when I received the citation.
My wife and I were dumbfounded because we had no idea why we were being pulled over. The kids were frightened and confused.
After returning to our hotel room that night, we Googled the Internet and for the first time learned about the double yellow striping and the reasons behind it. But even after this, we couldn't understand how people could know where they could get off the freeway given the fact that the double yellow stripes continue past many exits.
CHEAP, EASY SOLUTION
The solution to this situation is cheap and easy.
Just as HOV lanes have signs informing drivers of the minimum number of people for the lane, the same post could easily have a yellow warning sign that says, "Do not cross double-yellow lines."
This signage has precedent because many, if not most, stretches of double yellow striping down the middle of roads are accompanied by yellow diamond signs that say, "Do not pass."
If the goal of law enforcement is to compel compliance with a law, it should first make sure that the law is clear enough to understand by all who may drive the road, not just those who live in the area.