New riders regarding whether they can use HOV lanes. Not all HOV signs say “Motorcycles OK” and beg the question. HOV laws are based upon federal laws and allow motorcycles in HOV lanes for safety reasons. Only when motorcycles are restriced from HOV lanes is when a “safety hazard” exists for riders in that lane.


of the system. We believe that it violates federal law because it requires motorcyclists to have a state-issued Good To Go (G2G) pass to use the lane. If you don’t have a G2G pass, you are charged for using the HOV lane, based upon your license plate. This creates a nice Catch 22; federal law says we can be in that lane for safety, with safety the only criteria for restricting our access, but the state is saying we need a G2G pass to use the lane. We asked the State DOT if people from


out of state or even from the east side of Washington are restricted from using the HOV lanes because they don’t have a G2G pass. We also asked why the system – which reads license plates already – can’t identify motorcycles by their plates. Since the restriction is not based on a safety


hazard, we believe they’re in violation of federal law, but so far, we have received no clear answer. The motorcycling community needs to


be aware of changes made within our own states that can affect our safety. Often those who write laws and develop projects to “improve” roads are not motorcyclist and hence have little understanding of the chal- lenges we face daily on the roads of our states.


Implementation of systems such as


Washington’s I-405 HOV/HOT Lanes ignores federal laws and puts motorcyclists at risk. It fails to understand that federal HOV lane laws are designed to protect some of the most vulnerable of road users: motorcycles. Motorcyclists need to be more aware of the safety those HOV lanes provides us and use them whenever we can.


December 2015 BMW OWNERS NEWS 103


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