[WSBARP] [External Email] An HOV Violation question

Tue Nov 1 07:40:20 PDT 2022

It would really help to know the stretch of road you're talking about, 
because there are different systems.

But the only one that seems to fit your description is the 405 "Express 
Toll Lanes" north of Bellevue, and as I mentioned privately, you cannot 
get into or out of those lanes except at certain locations.

But in any case, the sensors can tell what lane the car is in so that 
they don't charge cars in the neighboring lanes.  So for example, on 167 
they only charge vehicles in "toll mode" if they are in the left HOV 
lane.  That means it's doubtful they flash if the car is not in the HOV 
lane.

Kary L. Krismer
206 723-2148

On 10/31/2022 4:07 PM, Dave Culbertson wrote:
>
> Hi, Allen.
>
> Thanks for the reply. 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, ticket should 
> be dismissed.
>
> 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 offer of a reduction to a non-moving 
> violation.
>
> Well, this kind of dilemma is why our friends pay us the no-bucks.
>
> dc
>
> *From:*wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com 
> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> *On Behalf Of *Allen Sakai
> *Sent:* Monday, October 31, 2022 3:55 PM
> *To:* WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [WSBARP] [External Email] An HOV Violation question
>
> Dave:
>
> I am not a traffic law expert but I have one of these so I think I 
> know what this is about.  You can flip the pass from HOV to SOV.  If 
> you have 2 people in your car, then you flip it to HOV mode.  If not, 
> then you keep it in SOV mode.  All the camera does is “see” which mode 
> your pass is in.  If it is in HOV mode, then no toll.  If it is in SOV 
> mode, the you have to pay a toll.
>
> I always wondered how you catch cheaters who drive in the HOV lane 
> with the pass in HOV mode regardless of how many people are in the 
> car.  The only way (I think) is that a trooper sees him as a SOV in 
> the HOV lane and pulls him over.  Then he checks his computer which 
> showed that he had his pass flipped to HOV.  Could have been 
> inadvertent or it could have been his way of trying to drive in the 
> HOV lane without paying the toll.  That’s my best guess as to what 
> happened. Now how you get out of that, I don’t know!
>
> */Allen R. Sakai/*
>
> *Attorney at Law*
>
> *Jeppesen Gray Sakai P.S.*
>
> *10655 N.E. 4th Street, Suite 801*
>
> *Bellevue, WA 98004-5044*
>
> *Phone: 425-454-2344, ext - 106*
>
> *Fax: 425-646-8889*
>
> *asakai at jgslaw.com*
>
> *www.jgslaw.com <http://www.jgslaw.com/>*
>
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> *From:*wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com 
> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> *On Behalf Of *Dave Culbertson
> *Sent:* Monday, October 31, 2022 2:53 PM
> *To:* solo-and-small-practice-section at list.wsba.org; 
> creditor-debtor-section at list.wsba.org; wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com; 
> wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com
> *Subject:* [External Email] [WSBARP] 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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