Crackdown on illegal HOV drivers to begin

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

(1/30/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- New enforcement on HOV lanes starts today. So if you are driving the HOV lanes in the Houston area illegally, you will get a ticket.

HOV lanes were created as a way for people to carpool and hopefully save times in the morning and afternoon commutes.

There are close to 100 miles of HOV lanes throughout the city used by more than 120,000 people every day.

"We have gotten a lot of communication from our customers concerned about folks violating the rules of the HOVs," said METRO Police Chief Tom Lambert. "We've looked at changing our deployment. We put officers on motorcycles and we are now doing more of a task force toward enforcement. We've seen a jump in the number of citations we issued in 2006."

METRO officials wrote over 10,000 citations in 2006. That's up from about 6,700 citations in 2005.

Chief Lambert says they are changing their tactics a bit to make things flow a bit smoother.

"There's a balance between mobility needs and enforcement," he said. "We gotta make sure that enforcement is not to the degree that we shut the lane down."

In the past, METRO police said that people have tried to get creative, including using mannequins. But now violators will get a $200 fine.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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