Idiot drivers

So, yesterday, traffic was AWFUL! Driving from Dublin to Walnut Creek in the morning, the carpool lane hours are 5am - 9am, and I am convinced that the mere presence of the carpool lane makes traffic in the other three lanes go slower. Part of this is caused because people DO NOT know how to merge or change lanes. The common driver thinks that merging means going as fast as you can for as long as you can (i.e. until the lane you are in turns into an exit only, or you see your exit 100 yards ahead and you're in the carpool lane), and then forcing your way into a spot barely bigger than your car while simultaneously slamming on your brakes. If you drive this corridor during commute hours, please watch for this phenomenon between Sycamore and El Cerro. Seriously. Changing lines like this, of course, causes the car you have just cut off to slam on his brakes, since he was probably already tailgating, and creates a ripple effect for the next three hours, turning the once 65-mph freeway into a glorified parking lot. In the worst case scenario, it causes an accident.

The annoying part of all this is that the people who are responsible for the three "regular" lanes slowing down (namely carpools), get to keep driving fast because they have their own stinkin' lane. Sometimes, when I am sitting alone in my car, I think, "there probably isn't a cop, I should just pass a few people and then get back over." I never do this because the minimum fine is $381, and it just doesn't seem worth it to get to work a few minutes early. There are people who think it's worth the risk, and it is SOOO irritating to see them get away with riding solo in the carpool lane day after day. So, yesterday, as I am watching these carpools (and some non-carpools) speed past me, I also notice a motorcycle CHP officer get on the freeway. He pulls immediately into the carpool lane and totally busts this DB in a Mustang. I smiled smugly to myself and thought, "HA! That's why I don't take the chance, and I hope he fines you the max and that you aren't wearing your seatbelt." It was seriously so gratifying to see the highway patrol get someone. Now if only they would fine the people who get in fender benders in the second lane and then get out of their cars in the middle of traffic...