Carpool Laws
Carpool lanes offer many benefits. The main reason for carpool lanes is to entice drivers to carpool rather than take their own vehicle to work each day, which allows them to use the carpool lane and not have to fight with the traffic in other lanes. The purpose of carpool lanes is to reduce the amount of cars on the road and the amount of pollution from each car.
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Purpose
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Carpool lanes are special lanes on freeways for vehicles with more than one driver to use to avoid the heavy traffic in other lanes. The rules for carpool lanes differ from state to state and information regarding your state's carpool lane rules is located on your state's Department of Motor Vehicles website.
Passengers
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Carpool lanes require that vehicles have more than one person in the car to legally drive in the carpool lane. Second passengers are considered any living person. Additional passengers may be adults, children or infants. Pregnant women do not count as two passengers. Neither do dogs.
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Low Emissions
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Some states, such as California, allow single passenger vehicles to drive in the carpool lane provided they have a government issued low emissions sticker on their vehicle. The reason for this is that carpool lanes are designed to lower pollution levels by encouraging passengers to park their own cars and ride with others to keep fewer cars on the road. Environment-friendly car drivers are rewarded with these stickers and access into the carpool lane even without a second passenger.
Motorcycles
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Motorcycle drivers are allowed to drive in carpool lanes provided there is no warning posted stating otherwise. This includes drivers of motorcycles that are the only passenger as well as motorcycles with a second passenger. Motorcycle laws vary state to state. Check with your local DMV for more information regarding the allowance of motorcycles in the carpool lane.
Regulations
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Carpool lanes have entrance and exit rules. Drivers are not allowed to turn in or out of the carpool lane whenever they want to. Carpool lanes have lines much the same as the regular road, which tell drivers when it's OK to switch lanes. When the lines of a carpool lane are solid, entrance and exit to the carpool lane is forbidden. When the lines are broken, drivers may enter or exit the carpool lane.
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References
- Photo Credit freeway image by Fabio Barni from Fotolia.com
