IMO driving 65 mph on the carpool lane is not a good practice (unless obviously there is a car in front!)
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How fast should people drive in the carpool lane?
- Thread starter xav-
- Start date
I see you're from California where I grew up as well, but in Washington, the flow of traffic is about 10mph slower than SoCal and 65mph is pretty normal flow even for carpool here.
Also, the carpool lane isn’t designed to be the lane to speed in. It’s designed to be used by higher occupancy vehicles. Going above the speed limit by 5mph should be plenty.
Curious, which lanes are designed to speed in?
None. But someone said doing 65 in the HOV/carpool lane was not advised. People shouldn’t have to speed to be in the HOV Lane is all I’m saying.
I also grew up in Orange County and visit often. Not only is the flow of traffic about 10-20 MPH over the speed limit there, but the freeway speed limits within populated areas are generally higher there compared to here. Where anatari's accident happened on the I-90, the speed limit is only 60 MPH (with parts of that road being a variable speed zone that never goes over 60 MPH - in other words the speed limit can be even slower on I-90 depending on traffic). In WA, when there's no traffic, the normal speed of the flow of traffic is probably 5-10 MPH over the speed limit...and most of those people going 10 MPH over are from Southern California.
Glad you are OK, anatari!
dhanson865
Well-Known Member
Did you miss the part that it was inside a tunnel with a tight curve?
I don't live out that way but I think this is the curve.
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jlarmstr
Member
I have driven this stretch several times, the visibility is definitely limited. Not something to tear through at high speed for sure.
T34ME
Active Member
I am giving you a big DISAGREE on this one. I too am an Orange/Riverside County driver and occasionally I use the carpool lane when traffic is jammed in the regular lanes. I drive the posted speed limit in the carpool lane which is usually 65 mph. As soon as traffic clears in the regular lanes, I move over, when it is safe to do so at a designated location. You can flip me off as much as you want, I don't pay attention anymore. I don't take kindly to your attempt to intimidate and bully me while you are driving a lethal weapon. Driving faster than the posted speed limit in the carpool lane is illegal, unsafe, and arrogant and not a good practice. I don't care what the flow of traffic is, if it is faster than the speed limit, it is illegal and potentially unsafe. If I were to drive at 75 mph in the carpool lane, there will be someone behind me who will flip me off because they want to go 85. It is a no win situation for me.
If you don't like the posted speed limit, change it through the legal process called an Initiative. In the meantime, I will continue to drive occasionally in the carpool lane at the posted speed limit. I'm the one in the Pearl White model 3. You can always right down my license plate and file a complaint with the CHP that I was driving the speed limit in the carpool lane. See how far that goes!
jeffro01
Active Member
So you're the person the rest of us hate with the fire of 10,000 suns holding up everyone else in the carpool lane? Keep in mind that your potentially breaking the law in CA by intentionally going slower than the rest of the traffic in the far left lane. I say potentially as I don't have a CHP person to ask directly and what I can read of the law is sketchy without context. Either way, if you're going to use the carpool lane drive like the rest of us, otherwise, get out.
Jeff
My rule of thumb for the carpool lane is that it should be going at least at the flow of traffic. It's purpose is to provide a lower-congestion option for people that meet the requirements for it's use. If you are in the carpool lane and going slower than other traffic then you are deriving no benefit and likely annoying the people behind you.
If you are driving slower than all the traffic around you by a significant speed deviation, you are a danger to yourself and everyone around you. I don't care what the speed limit says. If everyone is driving 75, that's what I drive.
For your reference, I believe this is the law that Jeff is referring to. Any lawyers or law enforcement officers care to chime in?
Law section
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T34ME
Active Member
You seem to be advocating anarchy on the highway - everyone should be allowed to set their own speed limit and those around him should comply. No, I will drive the posted speed limit as far right as I can get.
T34ME
Active Member
Okay, I will print this out a take it to the CHP office which is about three blocks from my house. We'll see what the watch commander has to say.From your reference, I believe this is the law that Jeff is referring to. Any lawyers or law enforcement officers care to chime in?
Law section
Let's compromise and have you go at least 70, with 75 preferred.
Cars are slower than the reported speed.
To NOT be an anarchists and be harmonious with society one must observe the speed limit +5 rule.
You might not believe me but being one who can read the emotions of cars around me, going at 65 in the slow lane is going to kill someone one day. If you want to be stubborn and have that on your conscience, you can answer to God.
I don't think your strategy conflicts with his. If you are going the speed limit in the right-hand lane few people will fault you because they can pass you on the left. If you are going the speed limit in the left-hand lane and not yielding to traffic approaching behind you *even if you they going 20mph over the speed limit* then in most jurisdictions you are breaking the law.
You have to love our reality. We install speed limit signs then produce cars that go twice as fast. Overall I try to stick with the flow of traffic.
Canuck
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear of your accident OP. I'm really glad everyone is relatively okay. It sure looks like the result could have been much worse.
More than a third of the drivers in the survey thought it was safe to drive 20 m.p.h. over the speed limit. Overall, the vast majority of respondents said they thought it was safe to speed, with 79 percent saying it was safe to exceed the limit by 10 m.p.h. or more.
Leaving aside whether it's "unsafe" or "not a good practice" (and that's certainly debatable according to studies that lead us up here to increase speed limits to make accidents less likely), you calling the "vast majority" of people "arrogant" is quite a stunning statement to me. I'm certain most of your friends and family members drive over the speed limit, whether in the carpool lane or otherwise. Do you call them "arrogant" to their face, or do you just do that to us here on the internet when you can be anonymous and sabre rattle from your high horse? It's fine to take a position, but calling people who have other views "arrogant", when the vast majority shares that other view, shows the fatal flaw in your argument. Certainly, most people who drive over the speed limit in the carpool lane are not arrogant at all. Rather, they are just going with the flow of traffic to be safe. The fact that you can't even acknowledge that, and instead resort to insults calling pretty much everyone "arrogant", certainly doesn't help your argument.
Your "unsafe" and "illegal" comments are also surprising. We all know it can be far more unsafe to go slower than the flow of traffic -- so there goes that argument. As to being "illegal" every jurisdiction has an acceptable "tolerance" level. I average no more than 10% over the speed limit since that is the tolerance in my neck of the woods and I never get a speeding trip -- going through radar traps too. So driving over the speed limit is not "illegal" as you claim. Moreover, the Motor Vehicle Act, that is quasi-criminal. Speeding is not in the Criminal Code. So arguments like it's "illegal" to drive over the speed limit are simply not true. Speeding is more akin to breach of a by-law then breach of the Criminal Code, like impaired driving, and for good reason. We don't require waivers for admission to Canada/US for people with speeding tickets but we do for people with DUI convictions -- because one is illegal and the other, while technically so, is not a Criminal Code offence.
Again, there is also tolerance -- and for good reason -- since going with flow saves lives:
Driving too slowly can be more dangerous than driving a little faster than the posted limit. In a high-density situation, with many others vehicles sharing the road, a dawdler creates what amounts to a rolling roadblock. Traffic snarls; motorists jockey for position -- the smooth flow of cars is interrupted.
More than a third of the drivers in the survey thought it was safe to drive 20 m.p.h. over the speed limit. Overall, the vast majority of respondents said they thought it was safe to speed, with 79 percent saying it was safe to exceed the limit by 10 m.p.h. or more.
Leaving aside whether it's "unsafe" or "not a good practice" (and that's certainly debatable according to studies that lead us up here to increase speed limits to make accidents less likely), you calling the "vast majority" of people "arrogant" is quite a stunning statement to me. I'm certain most of your friends and family members drive over the speed limit, whether in the carpool lane or otherwise. Do you call them "arrogant" to their face, or do you just do that to us here on the internet when you can be anonymous and sabre rattle from your high horse? It's fine to take a position, but calling people who have other views "arrogant", when the vast majority shares that other view, shows the fatal flaw in your argument. Certainly, most people who drive over the speed limit in the carpool lane are not arrogant at all. Rather, they are just going with the flow of traffic to be safe. The fact that you can't even acknowledge that, and instead resort to insults calling pretty much everyone "arrogant", certainly doesn't help your argument.
Your "unsafe" and "illegal" comments are also surprising. We all know it can be far more unsafe to go slower than the flow of traffic -- so there goes that argument. As to being "illegal" every jurisdiction has an acceptable "tolerance" level. I average no more than 10% over the speed limit since that is the tolerance in my neck of the woods and I never get a speeding trip -- going through radar traps too. So driving over the speed limit is not "illegal" as you claim. Moreover, the Motor Vehicle Act, that is quasi-criminal. Speeding is not in the Criminal Code. So arguments like it's "illegal" to drive over the speed limit are simply not true. Speeding is more akin to breach of a by-law then breach of the Criminal Code, like impaired driving, and for good reason. We don't require waivers for admission to Canada/US for people with speeding tickets but we do for people with DUI convictions -- because one is illegal and the other, while technically so, is not a Criminal Code offence.
Again, there is also tolerance -- and for good reason -- since going with flow saves lives:
Driving too slowly can be more dangerous than driving a little faster than the posted limit. In a high-density situation, with many others vehicles sharing the road, a dawdler creates what amounts to a rolling roadblock. Traffic snarls; motorists jockey for position -- the smooth flow of cars is interrupted.
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I agree that going the speed limit in the carpool lane if the other lanes are moving as fast or faster than that is pointless. However, the carpool lane is not a passing lane. I don't think "Keep Right Except to Pass" applies to the carpool lane. I reserve my "hate with the fire of 10,000 suns" for people who are not passing anyone and still refuse to get out of the "fast"/passing lane.
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