page_title: High-occupancy vehicle lane
section_title: Compliance, enforcement, and avoidance
hierarchical_section_title: High-occupancy vehicle lane / Compliance, enforcement, and avoidance
caption_attribution_description: English: en:Interstate 279 just outside of en:Pittsburgh.
context_page_description: A high-occupancy vehicle lane is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, including carpools, vanpools, and transit buses. These restrictions may be only imposed during peak travel times or may apply at all times. According to the criteria used there are different types of lanes: temporary or permanent with concrete barriers; two-directional or reversible; and exclusive, concurrent or contraflow lanes working in peak periods. The normal minimum occupancy level is 2 or 3 occupants. Many jurisdictions exempt other vehicles, including motorcycles, charter buses, emergency and law enforcement vehicles, low-emission and other green vehicles, and/or single-occupancy vehicles paying a toll. HOV lanes are normally created to increase average vehicle occupancy and persons traveling with the goal of reducing traffic congestion and air pollution, although their effectiveness is questionable.
  Regional and corporate-sponsored vanpools, carpools, and rideshare communities give commuters a way to increase occupancy. For places without such services, online rideshare communities can serve a similar purpose.
context_section_description: Fines are usually imposed on drivers of non-qualifying vehicles who use the lanes.
  Following the introduction of HOVs, some drivers placed inflatable dolls in the passenger seat, a practice that persists today, even though it is now illegal. Cameras that can distinguish between humans and mannequins or dolls were tested in the United Kingdom in 2005.
  In the United States, law enforcement officials have documented a variety of methods used by drivers in attempts to circumvent HOV occupancy rules:
  Placing store mannequins, blow-up dolls, kickboxing dummies, or cardboard cut-outs in the passenger seat;
  Taping styrofoam wig stands with wigs or balloons with faces drawn on them to the passenger seat headrest;
  Buckling the passenger-side seat belt and pretending to talk to someone reclining in that seat;
  Tinting the front windshield and/or lowering the passenger side visor in an effort to obstruct the view into the passenger seat;
  Covering an empty infant seat with a blanket and/or placing a doll in it;
  Strapping dogs, cats, or other pets into the passenger seat.
  In early 2006, an Arizona woman asserted that she had been improperly ticketed for using the HOV lane because the unborn child she was carrying in her womb justified her use of the lane, while noting that Arizona traffic laws do not define what constitutes a person. However, a judge subsequently ruled that to qualify as an "individual" under Arizona traffic laws, the individual must occupy a "separate and distinct" space in a vehicle. Likewise, in California, in order to use HOV lanes, there must be two (or, if posted, three) separate individuals occupying seats in a vehicle, and an unborn child does not count towards this requirement.
  In 2009 and 2010 it was found that non-compliance rates on HOV lanes in Brisbane, Australia, were approaching 90%. Enhanced enforcement led to increased compliance, average bus journey times dropped by about 19%, and total person throughput increased by 12%.
  In February 2010, a 61-year-old woman tried to pass off a life-sized mannequin as a passenger in order to use the HOV lane in New York State. A police officer on a routine HOV patrol became suspicious when he noticed that the so-called passenger was wearing sunglasses and using the visor on a cloudy morning. When the officer approached the vehicle, he discovered that the "passenger" was, in fact, a mannequin wearing lipstick, designer shades, a full-length wig, and a blue sweater. The driver was issued a traffic ticket for using the HOV lane without a human passenger, which carries a fine of $135 in 2010 and two points on a driver's license.
  In January 2013, a motorist tried to claim that the Articles of Incorporation of his business, which had been placed unbuckled on the passenger’s seat, constituted a person, citing the principle of corporate personhood and California's state Vehicle Code, which defines a person as "natural persons and corporations". This argument was rejected in traffic court, where the presiding judge commented, "Common sense says carrying a sheaf of papers in the front seat does not relieve traffic congestion."
  In March 2015, a motorist tried to use a cardboard cutout of actor Jonathan Goldsmith to access an HOV lane in Fife, Washington. The officer noted that other drivers had used sleeping bags in earlier attempts to access the HOV lane.
caption: Dedicated reversible  HOV lanes on Interstate 279 outside Pittsburgh.
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