Commuting: HOV Redemption

I have recently become a regular morning and afternoon rush-hour commuter. As a driver, there's nothing that pisses me off more than someone who basically cheats to get ahead of the traffic. I always want to yell out, "Hey buddy! Get back in line! We're all waiting here!" Speaking of which, I've often thought it would be a good idea to have phones in every car based on license plate so you could dial up the driver and yell at him.

When someone pulls into the lane next to you and busts by, there's nothing more rewarding than watching his lane slow up and then passing him... This feeling of redemption is only exceeded by the anger of watching someone hop into an HOV lane while having too few passengers. It's for this reason (and only this reason), I think Washington state's 764-HERO idea is a good idea.

Anyway, this feeling of unfairness is only matched when HOV-lane violators are caught and busted right in front of you.

Today, as we drove in, this guy in a minivan blasted by us, only to have a cop walk out into the lane, hold up the hand, gesturing him over. Of course, immediately before the cop came out, he was desperately trying to merge back into the lane. Fortunately, the people in my lane pulled together, dug deep, and kept him out. BUSTED. Big ticket for you, buddy!

I kind of wanted to honk as I drove by.