Zero Tolerance HOV Enforcement |
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colossus911
New Slug Joined: 19 May 2006 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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Posted: 06 Feb 2007 at 12:23pm |
I have been pitching the idea for some time (with little results) that we need a regular Zero tolerance enforcement program for HOV lanes just a couple days a month.
The way I envision this working is the Police picking one of the areas with wide shoulders and setting up a officer in the middle of the road slowing traffic and picking out violators, then directing them to the side of the road where one or two other officers are writing tickets for violators (the best spot on the morning commuute would be right after the Edsall ramp where they could turn violators back out the south bound exit and ticket them before sending them back southbound.) The key here is that they could set this up and catch EVERY violator. If the cops did this twice a month they would soon weed out all the violators. Questions for the board, do you think this would be too big a distruption? Do you think it has any merit? any suggestions to how we might make it a reality? |
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LDOMAJ
New Slug Joined: 17 May 2004 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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They did exactly this in 2005 spring/summer? (maybe somebody remembers better than I do) just before the first HOV exit before Springfield... backed traffic way up in the HOV and it really caused the State Police a lot of grief... They caught a lot of violators though (grin).
Any enforcement would be better than the infrequent enforcement they do now... has gotten much worse. |
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Bob
New Slug Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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Another technique that they dont use much anymore is enforcement at the off ramps (except Springfield in the morning). I know there was an incident at the Pentagon recently in which a cop jumped out in front of a car to stop it and got hit. The off ramp enforcement is dangerous because people have to go from 50 down to zero in about 100 feet.
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darkprime
New Slug Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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Hmmm, instead of tolls for revenue streams, why not have enforcement 100% every day? I'm sure the money generated would greatly exceed the pay to cover the cops and there would be a lot of money for roads too.
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getmehome pweeze
Master Slug Joined: 18 Jun 2004 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 501 |
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quote: This is a wonderful idea, and I have seen this done in the past, but with lack of organization in which many violators zoom by as the two or three officers on duty are writing up tickets with their backs to the flow of traffic. One or two officers need to be spotters, while the other officers are writing up tickets. I would like to see this enforced on random afternoons at the end of the HOV merge. Slug'n till 2010 (when the HOT lanes roll in) |
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n/a
New Slug Joined: 17 Dec 2001 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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I agree with this in theory, but the backup this morning btwn, 7:15 and 7:30am is a good example of why it would not be a practical long term solution. One car pulled over (on the left shoulder!) for HOV violation casued a backup from just south of the Pentagon all the way back to King St. We crawled along for miles! Could you imagine that everyday!
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LDOMAJ
New Slug Joined: 17 May 2004 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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bumping subject up over spam
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CallmeMrSlug
New Slug Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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I remember the TOTAL FIASCO when they did this in 2005. They dedicated like 18 cop cars, and slowed everyone's commute into work by at least an hour or more. If memory serves me correct, they didn't catch that many violators either because the violators tend to be people who are running late, and they set up this enforcement fairly early as I recall. I think the number of violators caught was less than 30 for HOV violations (they did write a few tickets for other types of violations as I recall). I am no fan of stopping all traffic to do HOV enforcement. The best enforcement is definitely HOV on ramp enforcement before cars can get a head of steam. Also, I do think HOV enforcement on the drive home is mre palatable than the ride in, IMO.
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Oosik
New Slug Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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I have certainly seen a significant number of violators and I generally drive around 6 a.m. in the morning -- it's definitely not only a late morning problem. Although traffic enforcement is rare on HOV for 395, I have occassionally seen it done and there are no major back ups. A backup can be caused for many reasons and just because there is someone at the end of the line getting a ticket doesn't mean he caused the backup. (Plus, if Raymond was backed up all the way to King street, why was the violator still there when he reached the Pentagon?)
What I would like to see is first, having cops at the on ramps to stop the scofflaws from even getting onto HOV. A couple of times randomly enforced could make a significant difference -- plus it really tick off a lot of people who suddenly find themselves in the wrong route to get on the car choked I-95. Secondly, capture the violators at the Pentagon area. Most violators could be directed down to the Pentagon parking area where the police could set up a nice little ticket line. This would minimize the amount of disruption on HOV. Unfortunately, given the large number of violators, they might have to wait in a long line to get their ticket. |
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colossus911
New Slug Joined: 19 May 2006 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
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I was thinking of this as a sort of hit and get operation, where they operate for like 20 - 30 min and catch all the violators for a while then let the traffic free.
I mean I know that this will slow traffic some but think of the overall relief from greater overall elmination of violators in general. |
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