Is it possible to fight an obvious carpool lane citation in L.A. ?
Just got a carpool lane violation citation from CHP for driving solo in a HOV lane. This does sound dumb – but any ideas on how to fight it AND win? Or is it even possible to fight and win a carpool lane citation?
I have a few way out in left-field ideas, but if presented to me, I think I would just eat the ticket instead. For another thing, if you have any kind of past record (speeding tickets or anything that would “suggest” you are an “unsafe” driver) I wouldn’t bother with this either. But here we go…You may be able to say you entered the lane to remove yourself from an unsafe situation, such as you were being tailgated and the HOV lane was the only one you could safely move to, and you only planned to be there temporarily. Or you could try that you moved into the lane to avoid an obstruction in the roadway and could not immediately return to the regular lanes because there were no safe openings to return to right away. Have specifics ready for your excuse. Finally, sometimes if you show up to court and the officer does not, you can have it dismissed, it’s worth a roll of the dice, I think, and that’s probably your best bet outside of getting an expensive game-playing lawyer. Good luck.
The Driver
