"Slugs clog evening rush-hour traffic???"

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   From an anonymouse reader on the Post website... does this person know what he/she is talking about? LOL

	http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53970-2005Jan6.html

	Anonymous: The Post article mentioned "slugs" -- folks who line up at arranged points for a free ride in the HOV lanes. Some people seem to think slugs are more deserving of the HOV lanes than hybrid owners who pay a premium to invest in clean, fuel-efficient transportation. 

	They couldn't be more wrong. Slugs do about as much good for traffic congestion as their counterparts do for vegetable gardens. 

	Slugs clog evening rush-hour traffic. Every other block of 14th Street has a slug line; each one stops traffic, compounding vehicle air pollution. Slug lines also pose a safety hazard because drivers who aren't picking up slugs try to change lanes in the middle of heavy traffic. 

	If Virginia is serious about reducing air pollution and encouraging fuel efficiency, it will continue to allow hybrids on the HOV lanes. 

	Higher fines and more enforcement against HOV cheaters (who far outnumber hybrid owners), will keep HOV lanes moving. Don't punish environmentally friendly hybrid owners. 

	Joan Morris: Let's agree to disagree. VDOT loves slugs - everyone that slugs is helping reduce congestion as well as air pollution. Violators continue to be a problem and the crackdown continues and has been somewhat successful - we still have a way to go. 

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shahedC Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote shahedC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: "Slugs clog evening rush-hour traffic???" Posted: 29 Jun 2005 at 9:50am
	From an anonymouse reader on the Post website... does this person know what he/she is talking about? LOL http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53970-2005Jan6.html Anonymous: The Post article mentioned "slugs" -- folks who line up at arranged points for a free ride in the HOV lanes. Some people seem to think slugs are more deserving of the HOV lanes than hybrid owners who pay a premium to invest in clean, fuel-efficient transportation. They couldn't be more wrong. Slugs do about as much good for traffic congestion as their counterparts do for vegetable gardens. Slugs clog evening rush-hour traffic. Every other block of 14th Street has a slug line; each one stops traffic, compounding vehicle air pollution. Slug lines also pose a safety hazard because drivers who aren't picking up slugs try to change lanes in the middle of heavy traffic. If Virginia is serious about reducing air pollution and encouraging fuel efficiency, it will continue to allow hybrids on the HOV lanes. Higher fines and more enforcement against HOV cheaters (who far outnumber hybrid owners), will keep HOV lanes moving. Don't punish environmentally friendly hybrid owners. Joan Morris: Let's agree to disagree. VDOT loves slugs - everyone that slugs is helping reduce congestion as well as air pollution. Violators continue to be a problem and the crackdown continues and has been somewhat successful - we still have a way to go.

miltrade Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote miltrade Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jun 2005 at 11:10am
	The HOV lanes were designed and are intended to REDUCE TRAFFIC CONGESTION BY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES ON THE ROAD. Not to clean up the environment and encouraging more people to clog up the roads by driving alone in their hybrids, thereby causing MORE traffic and delays. If you were such an environmentalist, why don't you pick up slugs in your precious little hybrid?? For that matter, ANY hybrid driver that doesn't have slugs in their car is a hypocrite because they aren't concerned about the added pollution that at least two other cars will cause.

shahedC Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote shahedC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jun 2005 at 11:23am
	miltrade... why such anger.. I copied/pasted something I found on the Post website... that wasn't my own post!

KCWolfPck Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 12 Nov 2003 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote KCWolfPck Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jun 2005 at 12:44pm
	I suspect that we will hear more and more whining from hybrid owners as the expiration date of their exemption grows nearer by the day. They all knew (at least most did) when they bought their hybrid that they would be relegated back to the main lanes next year. To all you hybrid owners.....stop whining!! Either start carpooling, vanpooling, or slugging if you want to use the HOV like the rest of us. Sheesh....most of you hydrid owners act like this came out of nowhere and your getting the shaft. You knew when you bought it.....blah blah blah!

USA Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote USA Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jun 2005 at 3:23pm
	There is some validity to the idea that the slug lines CAN cause problems in DC. Not that they ALWAYS do, just that they CAN. I've seen people pull up at 14th & Constitution, then, when there's nobody waiting for their destination, they put on the flashers and want to stay there. I don't think that's appropriate at all. That lane is a thru lane for traffic during rush hour and there is no bus pull-off to get you out of the traffic lane. It's one thing to stop briefly to pick people up. It's quite another to sit there for an extended period blocking the lane just because you're hoping a rider will come. The more appropriate thing to do is to go around the block (easy to do at 14th & Constitution, too).

Luvmyhybrid Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Location: va Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Luvmyhybrid Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jun 2005 at 3:30pm
	quote: Originally posted by KCWolfPck [br]I suspect that we will hear more and more whining from hybrid owners as the expiration date of their exemption grows nearer by the day. They all knew (at least most did) when they bought their hybrid that they would be relegated back to the main lanes next year. To all you hybrid owners.....stop whining!! Either start carpooling, vanpooling, or slugging if you want to use the HOV like the rest of us. Sheesh....most of you hydrid owners act like this came out of nowhere and your getting the shaft. You knew when you bought it.....blah blah blah! Wow -- as hybrid owners, we've never once WHINED about HOV useage, so please don't generalize. The whining I've read on this site usually comes from those commuters who don't own a Hybrid, and for some reason think they're getting the shaft. If you don't like the laws, then for tell your representatives.

mroyal Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 01 Apr 2003 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote mroyal Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 2005 at 10:13am
	The answer is obvious. HOV (Hybrid Only Vehicle) lanes should be restricted to vehicles with Clean Fuel plates and 3 persons. That should solve the congestion problem for a while. Kindest Regards, mroyal

MDC Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 04 Dec 2002 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote MDC Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 2005 at 10:26am
	lmh, Of course you've never whined about using HOV lanes. BTW, most of the idiotic posts here (see above) come from hybrid drivers.

KCWolfPck Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 12 Nov 2003 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote KCWolfPck Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 2005 at 10:27am
	quote: Originally posted by Luvmyhybrid [br] quote: Originally posted by KCWolfPck [br]I suspect that we will hear more and more whining from hybrid owners as the expiration date of their exemption grows nearer by the day. They all knew (at least most did) when they bought their hybrid that they would be relegated back to the main lanes next year. To all you hybrid owners.....stop whining!! Either start carpooling, vanpooling, or slugging if you want to use the HOV like the rest of us. Sheesh....most of you hydrid owners act like this came out of nowhere and your getting the shaft. You knew when you bought it.....blah blah blah! Wow -- as hybrid owners, we've never once WHINED about HOV useage, so please don't generalize. The whining I've read on this site usually comes from those commuters who don't own a Hybrid, and for some reason think they're getting the shaft. If you don't like the laws, then for tell your representatives. I'm not referring to the whining of HOV use, I am referring to the whining of the hybrid owners about the soon to come expiration of their exemption. Don't even try to tell me no hybrids owners whine about that!!!

Luvmyhybrid Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Location: va Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Luvmyhybrid Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 30 Jun 2005 at 11:04am
	quote: Originally posted by KCWolfPck [br] quote: Originally posted by Luvmyhybrid [br] quote: Originally posted by KCWolfPck [br]I suspect that we will hear more and more whining from hybrid owners as the expiration date of their exemption grows nearer by the day. They all knew (at least most did) when they bought their hybrid that they would be relegated back to the main lanes next year. To all you hybrid owners.....stop whining!! Either start carpooling, vanpooling, or slugging if you want to use the HOV like the rest of us. Sheesh....most of you hydrid owners act like this came out of nowhere and your getting the shaft. You knew when you bought it.....blah blah blah! Wow -- as hybrid owners, we've never once WHINED about HOV useage, so please don't generalize. The whining I've read on this site usually comes from those commuters who don't own a Hybrid, and for some reason think they're getting the shaft. If you don't like the laws, then for tell your representatives. I'm not referring to the whining of HOV use, I am referring to the whining of the hybrid owners about the soon to come expiration of their exemption. Don't even try to tell me no hybrids owners whine about that!!! Once again, you're generalizing....I am a Hybrid owner, and I don't whine about the expiration one oodle! I don't get caught up in the expiration because you know, it just really doesn't bug me all that much. What will be will be -- and it would be nice if others (maybe you?) would quit trying to put a wedge in-between commuters. We're all in this together. The law is the law...the only ones at this point BREAKING the laws are the single driver violators (not SOV's in Hybrids because it is currently OK in today's law)...if it changes then SOV's will adjust, just like they have in the past. Get over it, get on with driving courteously, and we'll all be happier commuters.