Car-Pool Lane and 55 Freeway

I feel confident that many readers who use the Costa Mesa Freeway (California 55) are as livid as I am about the item in the Jan. 25 Times wherein you urge the continuation of this abominable car-pool experiment. Your editorial states that these lanes need “better separation to reduce accidents and illegal and dangerous lane changes.” Also needed are “better markings,” better “policing” and “restudying of the lanes’ entry and exit points.” Outside of that you feel it is perfect. What else remains in the danger area outside the drunks?

The few times I use this route, I observe at least half of the automobiles in the car-pool lane with only one occupant, and I assume he is not pregnant. In almost a year, I have observed only two occasions where such offenders have been apprehended. Never have I observed a driver using the car-pool lane for passing being caught. Obviously the police priorities do not include car-pool violations.

Further, these car-pool lanes remain sparsely used on weekends and holidays, so why do they remain restricted? Are the folks heading to and from our beaches expected to car-pool?

I urge readers feeling as I do, to write to their assemblyman in Sacramento asking them to support the efforts of Assemblyman Tom McClintock who has introduced legislation to ban these diamond lane-type experiments. This I believe is where this issue will have to be resolved and not at the local level where such a high level of incompetency obviously prevails.

RICHARD LIGHT

Placentia