High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes have
been around since 1969, although their growth in popularity has
mostly been seen over the last 25 years. The Colorado
Department of Transportation (CDOT) maintains five
HOV facilities covering over 30 highway miles in the Denver area,
most of which have been open for the last 25 or 30 years. It only
takes two occupants to qualify for the HOV lane in Denver, and even
single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs) can use the HOV lanes in Downtown
Denver and on Pecos St. to the I-25, so long as they pay a toll. In
addition, CDOT has a hybrid permit plan in progress, which will allow
even more SOVs to access the carpool lanes.
HOV lanes may be a boon to easing
traffic during rush hour and lessening Denver's smog problem by
encouraging carpooling, but they pose a special risk of car accidents
that some drivers may not recognize or appreciate. The danger
involved in HOV use stems from the difference in speed between cars
travelling in the HOV lane versus the adjacent lane. During rush
hours, you have cars traveling slowly in the lane adjacent to the
carpool lane trying to enter the carpool lane. At the same time, you
have cars already in the carpool lane and traveling at much higher
speeds trying to merge with the slower traffic to the right in order
to make their highway exit. This is a recipe for disaster, with a
propensity for causing dangerous rear-end collisions and sideswipes
which can inflict serious personal injury such as head, neck and back
injuries from whiplash to traumatic brain injury (TBI) and permanent
spinal cord paralysis such as paraplegia or quadriplegia.
The HOV/Express lanes in Denver vary
from place to place, which can create confusion for drivers. Some HOV
lanes are separated from the other lanes with a buffer, while others
have a reversible barrier to allow switching the direction of the HOV
lane at different times of day. One HOV lane - on US 25 northbound
between Bowles and Alameda Ave. and the Southbound Platt River Drive
segment - has no buffer or barrier and only the standard dash line
to set it apart. While barriers may seem to reduce the likelihood of
accidents, they also limit the distance where cars can enter and exit
the HOV lane, making those areas particularly dangerous places for
collisions.
You can minimize your risk of being
involved in an accident by not traveling in the lane adjacent to a
carpool lane, which has statistically significant more accidents than
other lanes to the right. Of course, if you are needing to enter or
exit the carpool lane, the adjacent lane simply cannot be avoided. If
you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident in or near the
carpool lane, there are many legal and factual issues to consider,
such as each driver's level of contributory negligence and whether
the road was properly designed in the first place. An experienced
car accident attorney can help you work through the issues and
determine what amount of compensation may be due to you to help you
with your expenses from the accident.
