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Do toddlers count for the HOV lane?
This question came up the other night at dinner with friends. It seemed like they would, but we all hesitated a bit. After all, it’s not like taking a kid to school is removing a driver from the road. And isn’t that the point of HOV lanes – cut down on drivers?
So I posed the question to Michael Turnbell, who writes the On the Roads column for the Sun Sentinel.
Here was Michael’s answer: “Yes, children and infants count as the second passenger in all states. The law only specifies the number of occupants (in South Florida’s case, two or more), not the age of the occupants.”
But are they safe in HOV lanes? I’ve hesitated to use the HOV lane in the morning driving my toddler from Fort Lauderdale to school in Boca Raton. The HOV's motto should be: “Speed and drive dangerously.” That said, my wife swears by them. Using the HOV lane in the evening, she says, “has changed her life” (that’s a quote from her Facebook status).
Then again, who knows how long HOV lanes will be around. The I-95 express toll lanes are clearly the future. Interestingly, the rules are not as simple for the new express lanes. Registered carpools there of 3 or more can use those lanes without paying a toll, and those carpools are defined as "at least three commuters traveling to and from work in one vehicle." (To register, visit this site.)
So enjoy that HOV lane with your kid while you can.
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez loves to worry, or so her husband says...
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of three blonde, blue-eyed kids all under six years old.
Comments
Unfortunately in this lies the joke that is the HOV lane. Of course a toddler counts - but this is not the point of a HOV lane - is it? It's supposed to take cars off the road to reduce emissions. Unless this infant can drive, the person in the lane is violating the purpose of the law. Can you imagine how infuriating it is for me driving in a neighboring lane stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic watching a mother blow by me with a kid in the child seat in the back? That is unfair abuse of the law and taking advantage of others. That lane should have been used by registration only, or it should have been decommissioned a long time ago. Obviously it isn't mother's fault if the law is written with such loopholes - and this comment is mostly directed at our good government. I am glad that lane is going away - though paying for 'privilege' of using it is still pathetic.
Posted by: JustMe | March 11, 2009 4:42 PM
Actually, if the purpose of the law is to take drivers off the road then children should of course count. You could be driving someone else's child so they do not have to. I was part of a car pool when I was younger going to school, one parent drove 2 or 3 kids to school each day, thus eliminating another 1 or 2 cars from the road. And you cannot limit it to at least 2 children, because you could not have children, but you drive your neighbors child to school because it is on your way to work, thus keeping your neighbor from extra driving.
Remember, kids are people too.
Posted by: Average Joe | March 11, 2009 6:46 PM
The HOV lane in South Florida is a joke. Either drivers ignore the rule (and seem rarely to be punished for it) or, if it is observed, you've got one lane nearly empty and the other lanes choked so much that it's stop and go. Being able to use the HOV lane is not enough of an incentive for drivers to go to the trouble to carpool. They should be abolished so traffic can flow a little more smoothly.
Posted by: Jeffers | March 12, 2009 11:51 AM
We have the HOV lanes here in Vancouver, Canada. The HOV lanes are a decent attempt to reduce congestion but when my wife and I were driving an extended Ford F350 and we passed a single-occupant Smartcar (same wheelbase as my bicycle and 41 MPG) stuck in traffic, I had to wonder how well thought-out the policy was.
Posted by: Anand | March 13, 2009 9:52 PM
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Betty
http://laptopprocessor.info
Posted by: Betty | March 23, 2009 10:45 PM
I've been carpooling for two years. I love it. It's fun and I save a lot of money. :)
Posted by: Carpooling | April 5, 2009 10:25 AM