On March 2, Premier Christy Clark announced that electric vehicles would be allowed in the HOV lanes with a single occupant, provided they had a decal.
I was delighted to hear this news as we purchased our first electric car in March and we have been very happy with this purchase.
A couple of weeks later, my HOV OKAY decal arrived in the mail and I’ve now been driving in the HOV lane, cutting my commute down by 25 minutes each way, every day.
I’ve always known that some people cheated by driving in the HOV lane when they were not supposed to, but I never paid much attention because my eyes were always on the road. But since I’ve had my decal and using the HOV lane to get to work and back, I’ve come to realize that the amount of cheaters is prevalent.
Every third car driving in that lane contains only one person and the car doesn’t qualify to be there. Not only are these people cheaters, but dangerous drivers as they are crossing the solid white line to sneak into the lane and even cutting off traffic to do so.
Recently, as I was coming off the Port Mann Bridge headed westbound, the traffic was backed up in the left, middle and right lane and two cars from the left lane simultaneously jumped illegally into the HOV lane, cutting me off. Thank goodness for the newest technology in an advanced braking system that most cars have today, as it surely worked for me – even though I left some rubber on the road to try and miss these idiots.
I hit my brakes and my horn. These two losers then slink back into the left lane… again illegally crossing the solid white line and cutting off the left lane drivers, each almost causing another accident.
My only guess is these cheaters are selfish, mindless, elite-thinking individuals who somehow believe their time and their lives are more important than anyone else. If these people are willing to cheat in traffic, these same people are often willing to cheat in their taxes, relationships, personal expenses and anywhere else where they think they can get ahead of the pack. There are other options these losers can take: Buy an electric car and get a decal and be legally driving in the lane, carpool or take the bus.
For now, my spouse is looking into installing dash cameras in the front and back of our electric car to capture these accident-causing cheaters as it’s going down.
At minimum, an accident captured on camera would prove to ICBC and the police who caused the chaos on the road.
Sandra Steffan, Newton
