Carpool and HOV lanes CA Bay Area

Here in the wonderful Bay Area, many car pool lanes like the Bay Bridge are 3 person carpools. Using the car pool lane can save a lot of time, and a little money. Most of the Carreras have a couple of little back seats, that are pretty much worthless for anything but a child less than 10YO. This makes a Carrera really a 2 adult car. If you fold the rear seats down, they look like parcel shelves which might fake a CHP out. Has anyone had any experience sucessfull/unsucessfull with using the HOV/Carpool lanes at the Bay Bridge? It's a pretty hefty ticket and I would like to know what my odds are before I give it a try.

interesting thought - what about GT3/2's with only 2 seats (or other 2 seater cars) Are they allowed with only 2 occupants? (Corvette?) I would ask a patrol while I bought his donut/coffee for a quick answer (then get him to sign an affidavit and post the whole thing on youtube)

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You legally can't drive a 2-seater car even with the passenger seat occupied in a 3 person car pool lane. See here: http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/answers.html CHP keeps a pretty sharp eye out for carpool lane "cheats" so you will get nailed eventually if you try to sneak by with just a 2 seater in a 3 person lane. Even those times I have a passenger in my Boxster or Turbo (with the rear seats folded down) I stay out of the 3 person car pool lanes during their operational hours. Sincerely, Macster.

I've only seen one police chase of a 911 on youtube. Could you take video please

I just sold my Alfa Spider which had two seats and I went through the toll plaza many times and never had a problem. Two seater cars are fine. The problem is cars that can hold more than two people but only have two people in them.

What if you remove the rear seats?

You won't be able to drive the carrera through with just two people as it is classified as a coupe with four seats. You will definetly get a ticket even if you have the seats down as they know the cars classification. The boxster or any other two seat cars can go through carpool or hov lanes without problem.

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Gads the days we are in. Maybe installing a roll bar that would make it a two seater

It's not worth getting a ticket for.

What about an older 911 with a rear Speedster interior deck installed in place of the rear seats? I have that in my 1974. I'm a bit "chicken" to try it though since it IS a hefty ticket. I agree with springgeyser.........it's not worth getting a ticket for!

I've driven my C4S in the carpool lanes and across the Benicia bridge many times with only 2 people. Have been observed by CHP and not had a problem. Edit - not sure if 680 and/or the Benicia bridge have a 2 or 3 person HOV lane.

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My info is I-80 is the only freeway to have 3 person HOV lanes. All the rest require just 2 people. Sincerely, Macster.

Well, here is an interesting link, Benicia bridge is 3 people, or 2 people in a 2 seater car is OK: http://rideshare.511.org/511maps/bTollText.asp I just crossed the benicia Bridge on the way back from Tahoe and thought I saw 3 people were required. But, good to see that we have some 911's that have made it through without any you tube quality car chases.

Thanks for this informative post. HOV lanes, or carpool lanes , allow automobiles with more than one occupant to skirt busy traffic. It is a benefit for saving fuel and polluting less. A new program in California permits motorists of so-called green cars the same opportunity, even if they are driving alone. I can say that there's a big possibility that this program will be passed into law.

If your car only has 2 seats, you can operate it in the HOV lanes calling for 3 ppl w/o problems. But it has to be a true two-seater, not a 911 with vestigal rear seats. However, if you did get a ticket for this in your 911, put the bailiff and the judge in the rear seats and let them sit through a trans-bridge commute and see if they still view the car as a four-seater at the end of the process.

The HOV/carpool lanes are sometimes as crowded as the regular lanes these days and with the proliferation of green vehicles around here they will need to give them all the regular lanes soon! Lipstick on a pig anyway, you can't put 10lbs of **** in a 5lb bag! Rush hour traffic around here is a great place to test your cooling system though.

We have HOV lanes in my area (Toronto/Mississauga) and it applies to 2 or more people - not 3 as in your area. There was a study showing the fallacy of the HOV lane system as far as total cars per hour and avg time to destination. The greenies would have you believe that the HOV lane systems works when in fact the study showed more cars per hour using all four lanes instead of 3 plus the HOV lane produce less pollutants, less fuel used over all and a higher avg speed. The other thing we are seeing here in Canada are more accidents from people stopping in the HOV lane when they are unable to merge into stop and go traffic in the 3rd lane. Same with people entering the HOV lane from a slow rate of speed and getting hit from behind from someone in the HOV lane already at the speed limit. The study was independent and backed up the internal Government study that was repressed as it didn't fit the party line. As always - politics trumps common sense.

I lived in Danville, in the Eastbay for eight years and drove in the HOV lanes pretty much everyday. In eight years I was only stopped twice and both times I was in a Jaguar Convertible. I didn't get a ticket either time because I was able to convince them that it would be very difficult for anyone other than a small child to fit back there. It also helped that I always carried a gym bag that I layed across the back seats to make it look more like a shelf than some actual seats.

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LOL

Not to sound sanctimonious but I choose to use the lanes to which I'm entitled. It's entirely your call if you want to jump into the HOV lane, but please understand that if I see you getting a ticket, I'll point and laugh. For a Porsche driver there's more honor in a 20+ speeding ticket (and I've gotten a few).

You got a 911, right foot down when/if popo flashes you on the bridge. Back in college my friend was riding his R6 over BB from Oakland, doing about 90mph he went past the bike cop on a BMW bike driving in the middle lane. Cop went after him, my friend said he took it to 150MPH on the bridge. No ticket, cop never had a chance. Not having any plates on the R6 helped too.