The in basket: Don Wagner read the Road Warrior column about regulations on the HOT lanes on Highway 167 between Renton and Auburn and said he didn’t understand why crossing out of those lanes into the general purpose lanes should be restricted.
It makes sense to limit entering the HOT lanes to certain spots (designated by dashed interruptions in the double white line), since toll collection is by electronic reader at those spots, he said.
But he often feels pressed in those lanes by drivers wanting to go faster than the speed limit, which he observes, and getting out of there way is illegal except at the dashed lines.
The out basket: As I suspected, it’s done for consistency and enforcement.
Patricia Michaud of the GoodtoGo! office that administers toll collection there, says, “The no-double-crossing out of the HOT lane is about being consistent and predictable. The consistency adds predictability for drivers to help
prevent collisions. It would also be a difficult getting the message to
drivers that crossing the double-white line in one direction is okay but
illegal in the other direction. This helps State Patrol with their
enforcement, as well.
” It would also be a difficult getting the message to drivers that crossing the double-white line in one direction is okay but illegal in the other direction.”
Duh. That’s why we have the dashed-line/solid-line combination.