Riverside County cracking down on carpool lane cheaters

Transportation officials have seen it all when it comes to carpool lane cheaters: Mannequins in the front passenger seat, dressing up the car seat with a hat and jacket, a baby carrier in the car.

While it’s tempting for drivers to slide onto wide-open HOV lanes during heavy traffic, Riverside County authorities now have an additional tool to catch drivers who are using the HOV 3+ lanes without having passengers in the cars.

The Riverside County Transpiration Commission (RCTC) has deployed high-resolution cameras in different parts along the 91 Freeway express lanes, which require three or more people in the car for legal use, officials told NBC Los Angeles Thursday.

“This system is different because it’s a camera looking into the level of your vehicle as you pass through the HOV toll facility,” David Knudsen, deputy executive director with the RCTC said.

The system can detect how many people are inside a car during the day and at night. If fewer than three people are detected, the 50% toll discount using the HOV 3+ lane won’t be applied. Citations for the HOV lane violations typically amount to about $490 in California.

While officials did not say where along the 91 Freeway the high-tech cameras are deployed, but the RCTC has caught about 100,000 drivers every month — 25% of 400,000 carpool lane users — for violating the HOV lane regulations, mainly during morning and evening peak hours.

Pets do not count when drivers try to use the HOV 3 lanes, the RCTC explained.