This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Danny Allen never needed more than a minute or two Thursday to spot another violator in the Interstate 15 carpool lanes.
After all, state studies show that one of every five drivers using the lanes is breaking the law. So officials are using the reopening of express lanes at the Point of the Mountain, after two years of construction there, to step up enforcement and to re-publicize rules.
"Sometimes they make it easy to find them," Allen says, as one driver — after seeing his patrol car — tried to disappear into other traffic by illegally crossing double-white lines. "That sticks out like a sore thumb."
It was part of an interesting morning for Allen as he worked an overtime shift to focus just on express-lane violations, including:
• One man had two other tickets for violating the express lane this week sitting on his front seat. "He told me, 'I need to get me one of those transponders" that allow single-riders to pay tolls to travel in carpool lanes.
• One single-rider van sported a sticker claiming it was a natural-gas vehicle. A true clean-air vehicle may obtain a C Decal from the state to use the express lanes, based on availability. The van had a sticker designating it as natural-gas powered, but didn't have the state decal and there was no indication on its registration that it was natural gas.
"It's probably just some sticker they found somewhere" to try to bluff their way into avoiding an express-lane ticket, he said. "People try a lot of things like that to throw us off."
• Allen hit sort of a home run by seeing one offender speeding in the express lane, who then tried to disappear with illegal lane shifts. When he was caught, Allen found the car lacked an interlock device required for that driver because of past drunken driving. He had the car towed.
"Lane violators often commit several violations," Allen said.
In the past, the Highway Patrol would often simply issue warnings during express-lane blitzes to educate the public about rules, but the patrol is no longer playing Mr. Nice Guy. Allen said UHP figures the rules have been in place long enough that people know them, so violators now receive tickets.
The only driver who escaped a ticket Thursday during a ride-along was a district attorney investigator driving an unmarked police truck. "Emergency vehicles have a legal right to use the express lane," Allen said, adding, however, that is discouraged because it might encourage scofflaws. "He said he wouldn't do it again."
The Utah Department of Transportation provided money for the current enforcement blitz, and funds others throughout the year.
UDOT spokesman John Gleason said his agency provides that money "because our goal is to keep traffic moving as efficiently as possible." But the express lanes "are getting clogged with people who don't belong there."
When used properly, he said express lanes move twice as many people as general-purpose lanes — 3,600 an hour compared to 1,900. That also helps reduce congestion in other lanes.
Sgt. Todd Royce, spokesman for the Highway Patrol, said officers are often so busy with accidents and other serious problems that they are not able to focus much on express-lane violators — so it welcomes the extra money for occasional blitzes.
Gleason noted that with completion of a road-widening project at the Point of the Mountain — which had temporarily closed express lanes — I-15 now has 72 miles of continuous express lanes from Spanish Fork to Layton, the longest such stretch in the nation. It wants to use that to re-publicize express-lane rules.
Royce said a typical ticket for an express-lane violation costs about $100, depending on the court involved. Some states, such as California, may charge four or five times as much. "An increased fine does make a difference, however an increase in enforcement changes people's behavior more than a fine would," he said.
UDOT and UHP urged the public to keep in mind several rules about express lanes, including:
• Crossing the double-white lines is illegal. "We see it every day," Royce said. "It can cause drivers to brake suddenly, swerve and cause a crash. It's extremely unsafe."
• Express lanes are not passing lanes. Royce said some cars try to use them that way, and it's dangerous. He said express-lane users should not try to force other cars to exceed the speed limit there by following too close, but that is another common violation.
• Those who may use express lanes are: carpoolers (with at least two people in the car), motorcycles, buses, C Decal vehicles, emergency vehicles and others using toll transponders.