[WSBAPT] An HOV Violation question

[Dave Culbertson]

Hi, James.
Thanks for the info. Yes, that fits with what my friend described. I just spoke to Good-To-Go customer service, and the meaning of "HOV Lane Mode" as far as I can tell is that it informs the system you have a Good-To-Go pass and therefore you get a discount on the posted fee-if the signs say "$1.00", you either pay 1.00 or even 0.00 if you are on certain stretches of road (I-405, SR 167). Whereas if you have no Good-To-Go pass or account, you'll end up paying $3.00 if they mail you the toll to pay.
IF that is all it means-then the officer never established in his factual statements that the car was in the HOV lane. If that's the case....there is insufficient evidence of the violation.
So my gnawing doubt-customer service simply didn't know enough to say whether the white light also means the car is in the HOV lane. So the judge might say "I'm taking judicial notice that the white light only flashes when a car is in the HOV lane....". In which case it would have been wiser to accept the plea offer of reduction to a non-moving violation.
dc

From: James S. Jantos <jantos at jjantos.com>
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2022 3:41 PM
To: Dave Culbertson <dculbertson at culbertsonlawoffice.com>
Subject: RE: [solo-and-small-practice-section] An HOV Violation question

I don't know the answer, but the flex pass that I have in my cars is a plastic box with a switch - one direction of the switch says "HOV" and the other says something like single occupancy. Maybe your friend had the switch on "HOV" and was driving in the HOV lane, which activated white light, although he should have had the switch on single occupancy since he was the only one in the car?

James S. Jantos
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 258
Mercer Island, WA 98040
Telephone: (206) 232-0639
Facsimile: (206) 232-0993

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From: Dave Culbertson <dculbertson at culbertsonlawoffice.comsolo-and-small-practice-section@list.wsba.org<mailto:dculbertson at culbertsonlawoffice.comsolo-and-small-practice-section@list.wsba.org>>
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2022 2:53 PM
To: Solo and Small Practice Section <solo-and-small-practice-section at list.wsba.org<mailto:solo-and-small-practice-section at list.wsba.org>>
Subject: [solo-and-small-practice-section] An HOV Violation question

Hi, folks.

Helping a friend address a traffic violation. The charge is for being in the HOV lane without additional passengers.

Something about the officer's description raises a question: "OBSERVED DEFENDANT VEHICLE PASS UNDER TOLL CAMERA AND WHITE LIGHT ACTIVATED INDICATING VEHICLE'S FLEX
PASS WAS IN HOV LANE MODE."

I'm not sure how the toll/radar/camera system works, wondering if anybody has developed that info? Is the meaning of the officer's statement that the toll camera/white light reads the flex pass and determines the car is in the HOV lane, ie, that the white light is the proof that establishes he was in the lane (as opposed to the officer saying "I put my eyeballs in the direction of the car and saw that it was in the HOV lane?")

There isn't much more information about that stop than that, other than the officer noting there was only the driver in the vehicle.

Best Regards,

Dave Culbertson

The Law Office of Davisson Culbertson
PO 20403
Seattle, WA 98102

Phone: (206) 478-8134
FAX: (866) 867-7796
dculbertson at culbertsonlawoffice.com<mailto:dculbertson at culbertsonlawoffice.com>




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