Police on the hunt for HOV cheaters

ARLINGTON, Va. - It's a gamble lots of solo drivers take every day in the D.C. region: using the HOV lanes during HOV hours. If you are one of those gamblers, don't think your fellow drivers haven't noticed.

"People have contacted us and complained about an increase in the number of violations that they are witnessing," Capt. Tracy Russillo, division commander in Northern Virginia for the Virginia State Police, tells WTOP.

For HOV violators - especially along Interstates 395, 95 and 66 - this is a bad thing.

"In a response, what we've done is put out more patrols in an effort to try to intercept some of these violators and issue them a summons if it is appropriate," says Russillo.

The stepped-up effort was clear on a recent morning commute, as a Virginia State trooper waited patiently at the bottom of the Shirlington on-ramp to the HOV lanes - like a shark waiting for its prey to jump in the water.

"People are getting in (the HOV lanes) for the duration, or to go a pretty good distance and they are just playing the odds," says Russillo.

Trying to illegally shave time off a commute in Virginia truly is a roll of the dice. Get caught once and it is a $125 fine. Getting caught twice will cost you $250. Get caught four times and you'll have to fork over $1,000.

The effort to catch HOV violators has become such a focus in Northern Virginia now that some officers are getting overtime to solely focus on HOV enforcement. The money to pay for the overtime comes from drivers that have registered their car as a "clean special fuel" vehicle in the state. A portion of the $25 registration fee goes back to the state police for the HOV enforcement program.

Between July 26 and Sept. 12, officers in Northern Virginia who were strictly focused on HOV enforcement issued 2,200 summonses. That is not counting officers who simply encountered a violator and issued a ticket while riding in the HOV lanes.

Last year, the Virginia State Police issued 18,269 summonses for violations of the HOV law in Northern Virginia.

There also is a warning from the Virginia State Police to those drivers who pull over to the shoulder or the median and wait for the clock to turn so they can jump in the HOV lanes.

"That's an extremely dangerous position to be in and if we intercept those people, we will issue them a summons for violating the law," says Russillo.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All rights reserved.)