Just pay it. A first offense won't put points on your license. The time and aggrivation at the courthouse plus parking and gas and if the judge doesn't reduce it to a lesser violation like improper turn you're gonna end up paying a good bit more when all is said and done. I don't know if a 1st HOV violation is still $125.00 plus something like $62.50 administrative fee. That's what I paid 5yrs. ago not going to court. The other post may be correct that you pay court cost weather you go to court or not. (That's the $62.50)

I got a hov ticket on 66 going towards tysons coming from 395. I got on at exit 8b. There is not a sign that says that 66 is hov (at that exit) during that time. Should I fight this?

Just pay it. A first offense won't put points on your license. The time and aggrivation at the courthouse plus parking and gas and if the judge doesn't reduce it to a lesser violation like improper turn you're gonna end up paying a good bit more when all is said and done. I don't know if a 1st HOV violation is still $125.00 plus something like $62.50 administrative fee. That's what I paid 5yrs. ago not going to court. The other post may be correct that you pay court cost weather you go to court or not. (That's the $62.50)

@kendra - whelp................if you took 8b off the Shirley then you would have passed this: https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.888993,-77.067204&spn=0.001547,0.002411&gl=us&t=k&z=19&layer=c&cbll=38.889074,-77.06729&panoid=BD5h_u6OzFFfFTQ0qCn9JA&cbp=12,0.47,,0,3

and this: https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.891846,-77.067764&spn=0.001547,0.002411&gl=us&t=k&z=19&layer=c&cbll=38.891846,-77.067764&panoid=vDPUKF9zYbC-By_OrNoHlA&cbp=12,37.61,,0,15.82

before even getting on 66........and EVEN THEN if you've chosen to ignore those signs (as well as the electronic 66 signs that talk about HOV) then you'd have this big ass mother at the end of the ramp: https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.894885,-77.067604&spn=0.001547,0.002411&gl=us&t=k&z=19&layer=c&cbll=38.894885,-77.067604&panoid=JlZ5vINYJ875FJvO4V85VA&cbp=12,30.05,,0,4.3

so I'm pretty sure I know what yr fight will end up like LoLz

When I used to commute to the Pentagon on I66, I saw a dozen cars per day getting pulled over. There was no shortage of HOV dirtbags. Eastbound I66 - all the exits/entrances between the beltway and Arlington. The cops just camped out printing their own money on the side of the road.

I live out of state and got one of these violations recently while in town on a business trip. I travel all over the country regularly, including NY, Chicago, SF, LA, & every high-traffic area of the country you can imagine; I have never seen in all my life an entire interstate become HOV only. The signs make no sense - HOV lanes are one thing, HOV interstates are completely different. WHen I took the exit, I actually thought a terrible wreck had happened, with at least 10 police cars parked on the left of the ramp and an equal number of citizens' cars on the right. If this many people get pulled over, it's clearly not obvious, even to local residents much less visitors, that the interstate is HOV only. I don't get tickets often, but I've never contested one - if I broke the law, that's my fault, nobody else's and I'll take responsibility. In this case, getting a ticket for being a lost tourist driving on a major interstate is just beyond insane.

This is nothing more than a government-endorsed scam. All of you whose local governments profit off this scheme should be ashamed. In my area, the local population wouldn't stand for this whatsoever. Poor local zoning and planning is not an excuse to turn a federally-funded highway into a local piggy bank.

Yep. It isn't obvious. That's why there are many signs describing it.

Just tell the judge that you're illiterate and/or ignorant. The only reason that they made it HOV is to write tickets to the illiterate and or ignorant.

nocommonsense Wrote:
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> if I broke the law, that's my
> fault, nobody else's and I'll take responsibility.

Except for in this case, I guess. You broke the law, but it's not your fault and you ain't taking responsibility. Tough luck, stupid. :-)

@nocommonsense - love your hypocritical bullshit. First you act like yr a bigshot, gonna take responsiblity for yr actions.......then turn right around and whine: "...getting a ticket for being a lost tourist ..."

like wnrsm said, learn to read highway signs or stay the FUCK off of unfamiliar roads, Poindexter

I got a ticket and I'll likely just pay. That isn't even the mesage at this point. I live in Alexandria, work in Fairfax, and have never met the vile, vitriolic individuals which seem to gravitate towards this thread.

I'm a big fan of NoVa and what you read here is NOT representative. Non-intuitve traffic laws but (normally) very warm and friendly people.

So is the HOV restriction is lifted only if you are going to Dulles Airport, or is it applicable to Reagan National Airport as well? Can I go to Reagan by myself during rush hour inside the beltway?

if there was a sign, I mised it. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I got a ticket and I'll likely just pay. That
> isn't even the mesage at this point. I live in
> Alexandria, work in Fairfax, and have never met
> the vile, vitriolic individuals which seem to
> gravitate towards this thread.
>
> I'm a big fan of NoVa and what you read here is
> NOT representative. Non-intuitve traffic laws but
> (normally) very warm and friendly people.


So you went back 4 months to dig up a dead thread to tell us how vile and vitriolic people here are?

Get a life.

how much is the cost for the ticket???????

if you don't pay fx. co. will use it to sue you and try to take your house and car (after taking your license and getting you fired)

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depends. did you have a good excuse for using the lane ? did you tell the judge yet ? tell us then

lane use is a tort. and btw that lane was already paid for the "lane assignment" is not a legal or statutory tort, more literally is a scoff tort

i used to drive on that road before they had HOV. it was already there. quite already there.

I hate to help to resurrect an HOV ticket thread from the dead, but I see HOV questions here on FFXU all the time and wanted to add my experience in traffic court last week. I got caught dead-to-rights trying to push it at the tail-end of HOV hours, but had the time to go to my court date and wanted to get a definitive final answer on what the outcome of going to court really is. And I really wanted to disprove a rumor that an HOV ticket couldn't be reduced due to it being a VA statute.

First of all, you're not beating an HOV ticket. You messed up by trying to cheat the time a bit or were zoned out of your mind...so deal with it. It's a revenue generator to catch the tourists/unknowing/inattentive, but the cops are fair and play by the rules. 9am means 9am on the dot, 3:30pm means 3:30pm on the dot, and so forth and so on. If you can't make your exit by the designated time, don't risk it. Pleading 'not guilty' in court and then trying to explain is a complete waste of breath.

The best case scenario in court is to plead guilty, then state "I request leniency with a reduction of the fine." As long as you're not a knucklehead (and the officer standing right next to you will confirm that you are or aren't), you'll get a break. My first HOV ticket (and hopefully only) would've been $194 pre-paid online, but was only $101 pleading exactly as said above in court. Not a terrific outcome, but it's still $93 I could use. I luckily had the day off already and didn't have to use leave, so it ended up being worthwhile to spend two hours listening to everyone's sob stories in front of the judge at the courthouse. It may have been my lucky day with a favorable judge, a likeable officer, and the fact I waited 'til the very end as my officer was the last to present tickets. But throughout the whole morning, the judge was reducing fines down to anywhere from $10 to $50 + court costs, even on speeding tickets that should have been well over $200+. Being nice, dressing half-decent, and having a positive safe driving balance on your license only helps.

If having a chance at saving ~$90 is worth it to you, go to court. If not, pre-pay and move on. And don't get caught again, because every offense after the first one gets you an automatic -3 points off your license, along with a fine that doubles on each subsequent offense.

You messed up by trying to cheat

who said he cheated? it may have been legitimate.


well mr your court is fair. tickets used to be $15 and gas < $1.

and i'll dress up for court when the court and county stops cheating and stops skipping court

and the robe doesn't change a damn thing

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to me mr, you are talking like a thief, a car thief, that is a predator

i'll be looking for you