HOV Lanes and the Pam Am Games

HOV lane chaos in Ontario! Yes, we get it, people are very upset that the province of Ontario has temporarily amended the rules on High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes for the 2015 Pan Am games, set to kick off on July 7, 2015. And in the lead-up to the games, we agree, it must be super frustrating sitting in traffic watching a completely free lane go unused! However, Ontario drivers have been getting dinged hard in the past few days, as the OPP cracks down on HOV lane violations. To best arm you this Pan Am season, here are the facts about HOV lanes in Ontario:

Temporary HOV lanes will be open to:

• • accredited Games vehicles used to transport athletes, media, technical officials etc.

• • motor vehicles with 3+ occupants (from June 29 – July 27)

• • motor vehicles with 2+ occupants (from July 28 – August 18)

• • emergency vehicles

• • public transit

• • licensed taxis

• • airport limousines (on provincial highways only)

• • electric vehicles with green licence plates (on provincial highways only)

• • motorcycles (on City of Toronto roads only – Don Valley Parkway, Gardiner, Lake Shore Blvd.)

• Temporary HOV lanes will operate from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and will be clearly marked with signs and pavement markings. source: http://bit.ly/1RSkcfk

To prevent any potential charges on your driving record, which will also cost you up to 3 demerit points (how are your insurance rates these days?) as well if a motorist is caught and charged. X-Copper would strongly recommend that drives with less than three people in the car for the month of July, avoid the use of HOV lanes. Even more to this advice, X-Copper would strongly discourage Ontario drivers from hiring or purchasing manikins to place in their vehicle as a workaround to the whole issue. No joke, read more here: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/06/30/torontonians-getting-creative-to-bypass-hov-lane-restrictions.html

If you have currently received or during the Pan Am Games receive an HOV lane infraction we would highly recommend that you contact us immediately to see how we can help you fight the charge and save your driving record. Don’t forget you now can text a picture of any traffic ticket directly to X-Copper from your smartphone to 416-XCOPPER.