No, you are perfectly fine in the HOV lanes. F anyone who says otherwise, even that cop. |
I posted earlier but clearly you didn't see it. Moving children around quickly and efficiently IS in the spirit of the HOV. Commuters dealing with children and drop offs take more roads and go more miles than other commuters because they frequently have two commutes, the one to the childcare provider and the one to their job. Putting them on the HOV DOES help with congestion and moving people around more quickly. They frequently DO have to commute through congested corridors to schools and childcare providers. Just because you are a parent that doesn't have to move their child through a congested commute that doesn't mean others don't. I believe police should enforce the law, and I think OP should let it go, but I think the police officer was wrong to give a warning or to act defensive. It is totally reasonable to have not seen the carseats and to have pulled the woman over. Saying, 'oh I didn't see those, have a nice day m'am' would have been appropriate. |
+1 Drive in the HOV lane, OP. |
PP isn't saying her husband didn't deserve the ticket. She's explaining the consequences of having a warning in the system. But unless you got paperwork OP you didn't get an official warning like this IMO. |
| Actually, he was right. You are violating the spirit of the HOV rule. The rule IS to encourage ADULTS (Who would otherwise be driving separate cars) to carpool. You six month old twins would have no other way to get around so you're not reducing traffic by having them in the car. How do you not understand that? |
The trolls are now here. Wonderful. |
| OP, I think you and the cop are both right. Technically (and legally) speaking, there is not prohibit you from counting your kids as "occupants" of your vehicle. However, the "spirit of HOV" law (as cop told you) is to lessen the number of drivers on the road. |
| I am glad that the rule was enforced (by pulling you over). However, he was WAY out of line by being completely unprofessional, inaccurate and worse. See above PPs, he should have apologized. |
Jesus. For the millionth time. Letting parents get their kids dropped off quickly DOES lesson drivers on the road. A parent who would be on the road for 2 hours being on the road for 1 hour or even 90 minutes reduces congestion. |
Why should he have apologized for pulling over what appeared to be a single driver? Is he supposed to have x-ray vision that can look into her car (with its shades on) and see she has two babies back there? It sucks OP was inconvenienced and I also agree that the spirit of law comment was stupid, even though I agree with it. But the Mommy privilege is ridiculous here. |
Jesus x 2. you stupid or something? having more cars on the HOV will make HOV traffic slow and, therefore, make things worse for everyone. think before you speak stupid. |
No. The police officer is not correct. He is supposed to be following the actual law. If he or you or anyone else thinks the law ought to be different, he should be lobbying the lawmakers, not stopping drivers and giving them warnings. Obviously, he did not know about the kids in this car, but are you saying he would be well within his authority to stop parents driving with their kids to lecture them on the spirit of the law and give a warning every time he sees a parent with kids? Obviously not. |
If I bump into someone on the metro because there are a million people around I say sorry. It generally is a result of the circumstances not my personal action but I apologize because thats how you are a nice human being. What the cop did was the equivalent of bumping into someone and saying, 'this was your fault but I'm not gonna hold it against you too much' |
Parents have always used the HOV. They are factored into HOV calculations. If they intended parents to not use the HOV they would specify that children in carseats don't count. |
+100 You ARE violating the spirit of the HOV lanes. HOV lanes are arrears for drivers who carpool to get more cars off the road. Your infants can't drive. You are an asshole. (I bet you drive a giant SUV, don't you?) Kudos to the cop for pulling you over and for restraining himself from telling you what an asshole you are. |