Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Life in the Car Pool Lane...When a mistake cost you $495.
October 3 2013 | Lee Martell

Posted on 10/03/2013 2:03:10 PM PDT by lee martell

I admit it, I drove in the car pool lane as a single driver. I got in a hurry and started playing that game of seeing what I could get away with. I drove from the Veteran's Hospital in Santa Rosa, toward San Rafael, past acres of vineyards, past sleep cows, past car lots full of vehicles and tried to save some time.

All was well until some other driver peered out of her SUV to see me whizzing past, then and decided to join me in the express lane. That single driver was soon followed by another in one of those new electric cars shaped like a toaster. Soon this growing caravan of 'naughty children' passed by a police car, windows all blackened, was it one of those empty decoys? The headlights of the cop car blink on as the 'monster' awakens. Everybody got out of the car pool lane and back to the middle lane except for me. At the last moment, I saw the colored lights come on. London Bridges coming down! Damn. I gambled and I lost.

When I'm driving other folks around, I am much more rule bound. Sometimes I slip a little when driving alone. This was a good lesson for me to calm down, and stay out of that car pool bear trap. I imagine others have had similar experiences. I was advised to contest the ticket in case the officer didn't show up in court, but I didn't want to wheel and deal with the court system, not this time anyway. I will pay about $35. a month for X number of months. Oh well, 57 years old going on 15, sometimes it's that way.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Travel
KEYWORDS: foryourowngood; highwayrobbery; hov; revenuetickets; shakedownracket
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last
To: lee martell
I admit it, I drove in the car pool lane...

I once peed in a pool while swimming.

It's a slippery slope from one crime to the next.

21 posted on 10/03/2013 2:51:03 PM PDT by Flycatcher (God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Flycatcher

“For if once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. Once begin upon this downward path, you never know where you are to stop. Many a man has dated his ruin from some murder or other that perhaps he thought little of at the time”—Thomas DeQuincey


22 posted on 10/03/2013 2:53:06 PM PDT by Bubba Ho-Tep ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: fremont_steve
It isn't about the license. Everybody who applies for a license must be offered an opportunity to register to vote. The clerk may not interrogate the prospective driver about their citizenship or qualifications to vote.

It is only about registering illegals to dilute your vote.

23 posted on 10/03/2013 2:58:34 PM PDT by Sgt_Schultze (A half-truth is a complete lie)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: gorush

“ripping tags of pillows”

True: I did this with a scissors when I was about five years old. And that’s when it didn’t say “under penalty of law EXCEPT BY THE FINAL CONSUMER”. My father was horrified - a born anarchist!


24 posted on 10/03/2013 2:59:22 PM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: discostu

how many actual minutes do you think you save?

and how much aggravation and worry do you cause other drivers around you?


25 posted on 10/03/2013 3:06:21 PM PDT by Mr. K (Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics, and then Democrat Talking Points.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: lee martell

Baaaaaa!

Until you elect a constitutional sheriff to protect you from the mercenary jackboot thugs hired by the leftists, expect to be sheared.


26 posted on 10/03/2013 3:09:09 PM PDT by sergeantdave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cyber Liberty

Oh, I don’t know. PA used to post their fines on the Turnpike and HWY 80 if I remember correctly. Their license plates were a bright yellow/orange so out of state cars could be easily spotted and ticketed. Best bet if you were out of state was to fall in behind an out of state Cadillac, Mercedes, big Buick, etc. as they were always preferred over a lowly Datsun or Toyota. Same with NY State although I don’t remember them publishing their fines on billboards.


27 posted on 10/03/2013 3:11:45 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (A civilian forece funded and equal to the military ... Obama/DHS & Hitler/Gestapo & Stalin/KGB)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Mr. K

My children only know of two ways to drive. Foot on the gas or foot on the brake.

They do weird things like accelerate to stop signs and stop lights, then stop abruptly.

I believe one cannot drive to safely and to defensively.


28 posted on 10/03/2013 3:16:01 PM PDT by Usagi_yo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: The Antiyuppie

So - do you really eat pillows?


29 posted on 10/03/2013 3:19:43 PM PDT by Dan(9698)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: lee martell

Motorcycles can legally use the HOV lane with only the operator on board.


30 posted on 10/03/2013 3:28:29 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. K

Enough. And none. Driving faster than the speed limit doesn’t mean doing anything to other drivers, other than passing them. Meanwhile I’m paying better attention to the road (both looking for cops and just generally being not as bored) and keeping the traffic flowing better for everyone. The people that cause aggravation and worry are the ones that like to drive just under the speed limit, who also always seem to love blazing through the very end of a yellow light which would have been green if they’d just live a little.


31 posted on 10/03/2013 3:32:34 PM PDT by discostu (This is Jack Burton in the Pork Chop Express, and I'm talkin' to whoever's listenin' out there.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: gorush
"I got the Cyclone F-series, Hyper JetFlow, Stockholm SuperStream... you name it."


32 posted on 10/03/2013 3:51:51 PM PDT by Rodamala
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Mr. K; discostu

I’m with discostu on this and am guessing he speeds on the highway makeing safe lane changes, not following to close or overdriving conditions or himself.

Speeding isn’t dangerous. doing stoopit things is.

I’m also gonna guess discostu doesn’t speed on local streets as conditions can change very quickly and they are already varied.

Kids, dogs, Chinese Drivers


33 posted on 10/03/2013 3:53:47 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: discostu

I would routinely hit 136 on my interstate highway commute to Newark every day... Seton Hall’s college radio station plays pretty much all metal all the time... Anthrax, KMFDM, Ministry, Fear Factory.... the soundtrack for my commute was pretty intense.


34 posted on 10/03/2013 3:56:18 PM PDT by Rodamala
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Vendome

Oh I speed on local streets. But things don’t change that quickly in Tucson. We’ve got nice straight streets with wide lanes and fairly clean half mile grid on lights and good overall visibility. Trouble is easy to see coming. We also have speed limits that are just stupidly low, like where I got caught yesterday, it’s on the stop light grid, but it’s 1 x 1, a really wide 1 x 1 with enough room for a left turn lane (though without said lane) and bike lanes (has them), light traffic, 25MPH, same speed limit the pure residential streets get. I usually do 30-35 on it, yesterday having fun and hit 40 at the wrong time. Such is life.

Part of it’s the city too, everybody speeds here. Because they built the streets for 50 to 60 and give us limits of 35 and 40, and it’s a large land footprint city without a highway system. People who don’t speed here are making people mad.


35 posted on 10/03/2013 4:07:14 PM PDT by discostu (This is Jack Burton in the Pork Chop Express, and I'm talkin' to whoever's listenin' out there.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: CharlesWayneCT

Car pool violations in CA are NOT moving violations(no points) but POLICY violations. EVERYBODY pays for those pool lanes with taxes but only a select few are granted the ‘privilege’ of using them( 2+ in car, motorcycle, or a ‘special state approved vehicle’) . Car pool lanes are meant to be driven in, medians and shoulders are not. It is a policy meant to change behavior and has absolutely nothing to do with road safety or efficiency.


36 posted on 10/03/2013 4:21:23 PM PDT by yadent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Rodamala
I would routinely hit 136 on my interstate highway commute

That's faster than a Piper Cherokee at 75% throttle, straight and level flight.
37 posted on 10/03/2013 4:27:30 PM PDT by Signalman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: discostu
Why are you in such a hurry all the time?

A sensible question, I believe.

FMCDH(BITS)

38 posted on 10/03/2013 4:29:02 PM PDT by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: RetiredTexasVet

Meh. Haven’t been on the Pike in decades. Wouldn’t surprise me if they had the entire fee/fine schedule on the signs, you certainly had plenty of time to read them....


39 posted on 10/03/2013 4:33:44 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (It's hard to accept the truth when the lies were exactly what you wanted to hear.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: nothingnew

When I lived in South Florida, I ALWAYS (okay, not in school zones) went at least 5 MPH faster than posted. Often 10 or 15 over. I had a Audi A4 and then a Mini Cooper and I went zoom.

New Mexico is different. Less crowded. The pace is slower. I laugh at what they call heavy traffic. I bought a four door Jeep, which we call the Constipated Turtle, and rarely speed.

I think where you live HEAVILY influences your attitude towards speeding.


40 posted on 10/03/2013 4:34:52 PM PDT by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson