Police Cite Hundreds of Accused HOV Violators

DALE CITY, Va. — Police in Virginia and Maryland cracked down on HOV violators Tuesday, stopping 449 drivers who police say violated the rules of the road.

High Occupancy Vehicle lanes like the ones on Interstate 95 and 395 between Dumfries and the Pentagon offer a faster ride for vehicles with three or more occupants. Since the 1970s, the lanes have been successful in spurring carpooling and slugging — a unique form of ridesharing where lines of commuters all heading to the same destination form in parking lots like Potomac Mills mall in Woodbridge or the Garrisonville Road commuter lot in North Stafford, where they wait for a driver who’s also headed in their direction to pick them up and give them a free ride to work via I-95’s HOV lanes.

When the system is used correctly everyone benefits, but officials say single drivers who get on the lanes during peak times – between 6 and 9 a.m. and 3:30 and 6 p.m. weekdays when the three or more occupants rule is enforced – can gum up the works and slow everyone’s commute.

According to their final tally, 426 drivers were issued first-time HOV offenses, 18 drivers got second offenses, four were cited or the third offense, and one brazen driver ignored HOV rules for a fourth time, police said.

HOV enforcement on I-95 during the morning rush hour Tuesday was suspended after a series of two fatal crashes on the highway in Dale City, said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

Police also stopped drivers for speeding, seatbelt violations, and for not obeying the Virginia’s “Move Over Law” that requires drivers to merge to the left when an emergency vehicle rendering assistance in a shoulder lane of a highway, added Geller.

Changes are coming to the HOV lanes on I-95 staring sometime this year, as Virginia transportation officials plan to mark the beginning of the conversion of the lanes to High Occupancy Toll lanes that will be dubbed “95 Express Lanes.” Cars with three or more occupants will still be able to ride free with an EZPass transponder, but single drivers for the first time will be able to use the lanes for a fee. The lanes now end at Dumfries, but will be extended nine miles south to Va. 610 in North Stafford, and the total project could be completed in 2014, according to transportation officials.

Tuesday’s enforcement targeted drivers on Interstates 66, 95, 395, and the Dulles Toll Road in Virginia, and on I-270 in Maryland.