It seems that when Ford speaks, people shake their heads. While I agree that hybrids should not get special consideration for carpool lanes, it is because a single occupant is not a carpool.

Ford, like the other US automakers, is reactive, not proactive. That is why they find themselves, once again, playing catch-up to the foreign marques.

We don't have HOV lanes in OKC. Otherwise, I might be carpooling with an inflatable "friend".

Actually carpool lanes are one of my pet peeves. Why are drivers allowed to use the lane just because they have a passanger who cannot drive (i.e. underage), with them? How does that get more cars off the road? What kind of BS is that?

I never even considered that...it's a good point.

You live in Orange County and you are anti-family.
I am reporting you.

In the course of my regular, cliche'd life, I routinely transport 4 and sometimes 5 kids. Two are my own, leaving two or three others whose moms would have to be getting into their cars to transport their whelp.

I figure, since I'm removing 2-3 cars from traffic, that's worth a trip in the carpool lane.

Nina

Another good point...I'm so torn.

A few months ago I saw something ahead on the freeway the flipped me out.
It was a scantily-clad very sexy woman facing oncoming traffic.
She was sitting on the trunk of a car parked the shoulder.

This really caught my eye.
She looked like a model from a magazine.
As I passed I also noticed a police motorcycle in front of the car and a cop writing a ticket.
The sexy broad was a mannequin.

I guess the cop sat her on the trunk to send a message.

Like Nina, when I use the car pool lane, I am frequently driving other people's kids in a car pool. Or even dropping off one kid here and one kid there.

That does take extra cars off the road.

Cindy -- who thinks hybrids will be so common in a few years that they'll get booted from car pool lanes anyway, leaving them entirely to mini-van drivers like herself

California has a gadzillion cars.
The bill is written to allow only the *first* 75,000 who bought them to get the special DMV stickers.
Also, if carpool lanes slow down too much the hybrids will be booted out.
Unless they have a mannequin.

Everywhere I've been that has carpool/HOV lanes (we don't have them here), I've noticed that the carpool lane is seldom the least occupied nor quickest moving. Only once, on the 405 in OC, did I see the HOV lane moving much faster. There had been an accident ahead and only the HOV lane and the next furthest left lane were open. But those HOV lanes are usually so close to the center barrier they practically invite accidents, and it seems to me that I have seen an inordinate number of accidents in the HOV lane from folks hitting the barrier. JMWO.

JMWO = Just My World Order?

I agree with you, Matt G. I never use the carpool lanes unless it's rush hour. Although the carpool lane averages maybe 40 mph, it's a far cry better than 5 mph or less in stalled traffic, which is a daily occurrence here.

Our carpool lanes are definitely helpful. There are certain bottlenecks, and they have put the HOV lanes there. You fly right past these huge back-ups. HOV hours are 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. (I don't know the morning hours because I don't drive morning rush hour times at all.

What is surprising to me is that people will actually let me exit the HOV lane. I would expect people to be mean-spirited about it ("Oh, you think you're jumping ahead of *me,* do you?"), but I haven't experienced that.

Nina, the fact that you and Cindy may be doing a favor and reducing traffic is fine. But I am sure you are in the small minority who fit that example. I'm willing to bet the vast majority of kids being chauffeured belong only to the driver.

John
You bring up a very good point I had not considered.

But a politician would be committing career suicide voting for legislation that could be construed as anti-family.

Most voters are breeders.

You must be some homo pinko commie monster for suggesting making little Susie late for her soccer practice.

I have a very bad feeling about oil prices in the next decade, based on recent reports of peak oil and growth in Asia. You're right Cindy, and if the US makers don't get off their butts and give us good hybrids, we will be all the worse in this country.

A related concern then, is the efficiency or homes, and what increasing energy prices will do to older home values. NAvigant Consulting is reporting that renewable energy will be cost competitive with grid provided electricity in 2013. The only way that can happen is with dramatic increases in utility supplied energy. I am genuinely concerned about this issue.

I think it it shocking that all those people in China and the rest of the world want what we have in America.

Just shocking!

We need to project our power more, protect our unfair advantage (opps, protect our national interests) with more wars.

But John, say my husband and I share the road for something other than a commute -- a date, a shopping trip, whatever. That doesn't take a car off the road either.

Gee, whiz. Parents are encouraged to stay home and take care of business there, and then people begrudge them even the slightest benefit or convenience.

When you see a mom with a van full of kids, think to yourself "Let that poor women get out of this traffic jam before the children drive her insane!"

I don't know if that was directed at me, but I'm not suggesting that Asia be denied anything. I'm saying that increasing demand and falling supply is a double whammy.

And if China gets pinched for energy, we won't be the ones waging the war for oil.

Sorry NY
No sarcasm directed at you.
I should have written more thoughtfully.

I bought a hybrid.
I think globally.

America is crawling with low-mileage cars, SUVs and trucks that never haul anything more than a Starbucks latte.
And the rush rush aggressive driving style of most drivers wastes more gas.
It is like Americans are in denial.

May gas prices go up through the roof to knock some sense into these people.
Money talks.

Cindy, my only point was that the lanes are supposedly created for people reducing traffic. Many of those who are within the law are not reducing traffic. If almost everybody gets an exception because it is too hard to legitimately monitor, then have we really achieved what we set out to do? I think not. Just another example of well intentioned bureaucrats run amok.


Believe me, when I see a woman with a van full of kids I give her plenty of room!

John I doubt I will ever use the carpool lane, even if they let hybrids in.
I have no desire to drive as fast as possible, with or without traffic.
I'm having too much fun driving as efficiently as possible.

But, I believe smog is a big problem.
Hybrids have the lowest emissions of all vehicles sold in California.
90% lower than the average!

Using carpool lanes as a carrot may be a good incentive.

Kenny, you may well have a valid point there. My original complaint was the way the currrent carpool lane usage did not meet the intent of why it was created.

The idea was for people who would otherwise take seperate cars to join up and get a benefit while getting more cars off the road. So instead every parent schleping kids around town gets to use it while making no contribution towards achieving the original intent. As well as couples who wouldn't be taking seperate cars anyway. So have we achieved our intended goal with the current system? I don't think so. Why are we trying to fool ourselves?

Yes, we have achieved our goal with the current car pool restrictions. Really, how many people in car pool lanes during rush hour are parents driving only their own kids? It can't be a very large percentage.

And I guess to be thorough we'd have to require that each person in the car be a licensed driver -- otherwise you're not taking a car off the road. Might be rather hard to enforce. I think using number of passengers is a reasonable proxy.

BTW, in Maryland, motorcycles can use car pool lanes, probably to discourage them from zipping between lanes.

NY1911 and Kenny, very good points about the coming global energy crises. Take the "number of cars per resident" number in the US, multiply that by the population of China or India -- and there you have the scary picture in terms of oil consumption and environmental impact. Not just more efficient cars, there has to be a more efficient transportation system. More public/mass transportation, smarter urban planning to reduce commute and reduce the need to drive, less cars, cultural change to turn away from the "car culture," etc.