Tuesday, April 21, 2009

For Our Hybrid Vehicle Owners

According to Dr. Gridlock with the Washington Post, hybrid vehicles with the proper clean fuel tags can continue to use the HOV lanes in Northern Virginia through June 30, 2010. According to the article, the Virginia General Assembly extended the law, much to the unhappiness of Dr. Gridlock.

House Bill 2476 was sponsored by Del. Tim Hugo and signed by Gov. Tim Kaine. (The only change in the law is striking out "2009" and writing in "2010" in the sunset date on the law.)

And just so you're totally "in the know," here's a link to the VDOT Web site with everything you needed to know about HOV lanes and rules and hybrids.

So what are your thoughts? Should hybrids be allowed in the HOV lanes, even if they only have the driver? Tell us what you think!

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1 comment:

  1. No way should they be using the HOV lane with only one driver. First off, the cars get better mileage if they drive in the congested traffic. If any car should have to drive in the congestion it is the hybrids. Second, only the mileage of some hybrids is better than normal cars. SUV hybrid gas mileage is worse than my civic... yet I sit in traffic if I'm by myself. And lastly, hybrid drivers seem to think the HOV lane is the only lane they can occupy. They go slow in HOV since they are watching their battery meters while the rest of the traffic attempts to go around them. Yes, this is a generalization but most hybrid drivers don't move out of the HOV lane (historically knows as the FAST lane) even when they are going much slower than the rest of the traffic in the SLOW lanes. Are there studies out there that show the carbon footprint of production of hybrids and how they will dispose of the batteries? Are they really green?

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