One nice thing about the forums is that one can reply with absolutely no logic and then make something up that has little to do with the subject, rant on and declare victory.

Beyond that, another great technique is to remind someone that what they've been describing is exactly what they've been describing yet making it look like they were confused.

Sorry Eric, I ain't buying it.

But, as mentioned, I do drive in the slow lanes, so we will never meet. Only if you fvk with me over there and then you'll have your hands full. I promise.

FWIW, at least here in California, the carpool lane is to the left of rest of traffic. Then, the lane to the right of the carpool lane is considered the #1 lane. Lanes are then numbered sequentially higher going to the right. So the carpool lane (if there is one) is NOT the #1 lane. Just so we're all on the same semantic page, here.

I did exactly that basically - though if it wasn't time for me make my exit - I'm not sure I would have. He's making things unsafe - not me. He has made it clear he's not going to hit me and I would not have sped up if he wanted to speed around me.

The HOV lane is not the fast lane. It is the HOV lane - it is not the safest lane either. Within inches of wall...75 is about my limit in the Prius unless we are on way open road and the speed limit is 75. I'm a 5 mpg over kind of guy tops. It just chaps my a$$ that I've been hit so many times for SIX MILES OVER and so many other folks get away with this crap. So, I have slowed down. I don't ride the #1 unless I'm passing normally. When I am out on the open road I'm not a dog slowing everyone else down on purpose. I do tend to drive closer to the speed limit and I do feel that your need to speed does not trump my need to drive safely. IF you need to speed - do it on the track where it belongs.

To the Kapt'ns question - could I have sped up to 75? With this guy I doubt it would have been fast enough and with the way he was behaving - No. I couldn't. If I had seen a line of cars behind me and had a fairly open road in front of me (which I didn't and there was traffic to the side of me going slower than the HOV lane) I might have sped up for those folks - maybe. Long Beach is nasty with the CHP so I just might have had them suck it up and I just don't care. They wouldn't be paying for my ticket and insurance hikes and if they get in an accident because they can't slow down in time because they were tailgating - well - that'll learn 'em and it is their fault - NOT mine.

That's rich. (pot, meet kettle).
Sorry, Milty I ain't selling anything. It's common sense. If you "ain't buying" the simple premise that slower traffic should keep right, then you are hopeless. If it is something else, please specify. ;)

Maybe that's where we differ. If I'm in the HOV lane (with no other traffic in front of me) and can't go fast enough to keep the guy behind me happy, I'll move over at the next appropriate spot and let him on by, then slip back in line behind him. I've done it before. Frequently. Like Coffey says, if there's faster traffic, I shouldn't be in the left-most lane (carpool or #1) holding them up.

Your/my actions of holding them up aren't going to make them any more insightful or careful or considerate. Quite the opposite. So just move on over and let them go. It's the courteous and safe thing to do.

Correct. The #1 lane is always the closest to the left median/barrier, unless there is a (dedicated) HOV lane. Then the #1 lane is just to the right of the HOV.

Anyone who does 70 in a carpool lane in So Cal is a Left Lane Bandit / Jackass.

If you don't want to go fast why are you even in the left lanes, stay in the right lanes and feel all good about your slow ass self.
That and slowing down to gawk at an accident on the other side of the road. I have no sympathy for drivers like that.

I guess I really don't understand HOV lanes as some of you guys do. My understanding is that they are designed to encourage people to carpool by providing a lane that is less susceptible to traffic stoppage/jams. I would expect it to be filled with minivans traveling at somewhat close to the legal limit and the lane just to the right remaining the "fast lane." Do some of you guys see it as some sort of "extra fast" lane that anyone without NASCAR credentials/intent should avoid??

If there is very heavy traffic that is going very slowly in the non-carpool lanes (like 50 or below), then yes, I can see people taking advantage of the carpool lane and not doing 80.

But, some people apparently think the car pool lane is mandatory. It isn't. If traffic is going 75-80, and you want to do 65, cool. Just do it in the slow lane.

A good rule of thumb is this: If you are going close to the same speed, or slower, than the other lanes, why not just stay out of the carpool lane? The other lanes will do just fine. It must feel good to some people to have the power to slow down 2 miles of motorists trapped behind them in the carpool lane. It's the ultimate high for the left lane bandit. Not only do you get to be the "enforcer" of traffic laws, you have for many miles a captive crowd.

The general traffic last night was going about 55-60 so I was going faster in the HOV lane than the rest of traffic. If traffic were not there - I probably would not have been in the HOV lane.

The point is this a55hat behind me was trying to ride me out of the lane because I was only doing 70. I felt it was unsafe for me to do any more given the wall on the left and the slower traffic on the right. I had no way out due to the illegality of crossing the double yellow AND the other traffic that was in the way. Maybe he was trying to intimidate me into crossing the double yellow anyway - I considered it the way this guy was driving but my own aggression got in the way of completely rational thinking. So my choices were to brake check him or do nothing until I could get out. My exit was coming up so I got out - but he was probably riding me for a good few miles between HOV openings. He sped by clearly hammering the throttle.

If a person wants to drive faster than the carpool folks in the HOV lane...then why don't they stay out of the HOV lane...and drive in the "fast lane" which is moving faster?

Here's a rule that I live by: The Laws of Physics Supersede the Laws of Man.

If you felt this guy was unsafe and a risk to you, You should have moved and lived with the consequences. I've left HOV lanes for that reason many times.

A 7000lb SUV traveling at 69 Mph has a lot of inertia. You might be right, as far as the law goes, but still be wrong.

Because people have a sense of entitlement - they have a passenger in their car, or have stickers, and their taxes pay for the carpool lanes to be put in, so dammit, they're going to use them at whatever speed they want (both fast and slow).

Motorcycles are allowed in HOV lanes in CA. I often ride in them in heavy traffic, but rarely in light traffic. Mostly because of people who view the HOV lane as either their local Nurburgring or a moving parking lot.

There have been a lot of keystrokes made in this thread, and a lot of chests puffed out, but distill it down a bit more: mikester said he didn't want to risk a ticket by crossing out of the HOV lane where it was illegal to do so, and speeding up (to 75?) would have also risked him a ticket and probably not been fast enough to make the SUV driver happy.

1) It is not mikester's job to make the SUV driver happy. Mikester did the right thing by maintaining a consistent speed until he could get over legally.

2) The SUV driver did the wrong thing by tailgating mikester. It's stupid... it totally ignores the laws of physics... it's me-first-and-everyone-else-can-die selfish. He put his life and mikester's life in danger, along with everyone in nearby lanes if a dicey situation had presented itself and mikester or the person in front of him had needed to slow way down or stop.

Much what has been said in this thread ignores these facts. Much of it is good thinking (move over when you can, don't ride in the left lane if you don't need to, etc.), but tailgating someone at freeway speeds for any reason is batsnit crazy.

Don't do it. There's never a justification for it.

People talk about lane discipline and the other virtues of the German Autobahn. This is not Germany, but what a lot of people don't know about the Autobahn is that the Germans will bust a driver just as quick for tailgating as for not moving over because they know how dangerous it is.

So, traffic is doing 50 in the 1 and 2 lane and Mike is being chased down at 70 in the HOV lane. You guys tell him to get out. OK, so he looks for 2 things, a break in the line and enough room to brake down 20 MPH and move over blending in a way as to not piss off a second motorist. Blinker on, of course.

I can see that SUV driver now. He wouldn't understand the maneuver and probably thinks it was directed at him to piss him off. So he intentionally tries to get as close to the exiting car as possible in an intimidating manner to "teach" the 70 MPH diver a lesson.

I'm 100% with Mike and his supporters. I know we're in the minority. So are mature people.

Just face the facts, you speeders feel entitled to run the highways as you please ignoring the fact that driving is not a right, only a privilege. And in 20 miles, you do get there 2 and half minutes before Mike and I.

You go girls.

Read Milt's post below. The traffic next to me was going slower - I would have had to slow down significantly to exit out of his way. I didn't feel it was safe to go fast than I was going.

Not keeping up with the flow of traffic in the fast lane or carpool lane makes him a jerk, but "tailgating the heck out of him" makes you a bigger jerk and also a dangerous one.

Now I'm not saying I'm above that, on occasion I've been a big dangerous jerk in the fast lane or carpool lane too. But that doesn't make it right.

EDIT but if that dumazz driving too slow in the carpool lane decided to brake-check me, I'd put him and his smug little weasel car into the weeds. if he can't keep up with the flow of traffic that's what he deserves ;)

There. That'll do it.

You people in CA are just strange.

I think there are some rules in California about holding up traffic, no matter which lane you are in. You can be ticketed if you have an open lane in front and a line of cars behind. So just go along with your self righteous self and do the speed limit. Just do it in the slow lanes.