(WXYZ) — When you bring an issue to our attention, we work to get you answers.
Watch Ali's story in the video player below
What started as an email from a viewer about the carpool lanes on I-75 in Oakland County turned into us uncovering a major frustration among drivers.
The email said that not enough is being done to enforce the rules of the HOV lanes along I-75 between 12 Mile and South Blvd.
“Every morning/evening on my commute, there are lots of people with one person in the car using it to cut ahead of traffic," Dan Ouwenga wrote to us.
He claimed there is zero enforcement and mentioned how there are massive fines in other states.
"Here in Michigan, it's enforced the same way as people putting shopping carts in a cart return… purely on the kindness of their heart," he said.
It turns out, he's not alone in his belief. Over the summer, the Michigan Department of Transportation conducted a survey, looking for feedback on the lanes. Those HOV lanes are available to cars with more than one person inside from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
More than 2,500 people responded to the summer survey in 33 days. It found:
- 57% of people disagree that the lanes are convenient
- 68% of people disagreed that the lanes save time
- 83% of people felt the HOV lanes are not used appropriately
We took the frustrations to both the Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan State Police.
“What do you take away from what people said in the feedback, what’s the number one thing here?” I asked Rob Morosi, a spokesperson for MDOT.
“I think there’s some frustration because they cite lack of enforcement as the top concern, and it's understandable," he said. “They’re doing the right thing, someone’s not, and they are getting away with it, I understand that frustration level.”
“I wish that my top traffic safety priority in the state of Michigan was HOV lane enforcement. Unfortunately, it's not in my top five, or my top ten," MSP First Lt. Mike Shaw said. "We’ve had almost a thousand Michiganders killed on roads during the last year. We are on pace to pass that again this year, so it’s not one of our areas that we look at every day."
"What would you say to people that are frustrated that there isn’t enough enforcement on those HOV lanes?” I followed up.
“I would tell them we appreciate what they’re doing. We also tell people that are driving in them when they are not supposed to that we’d rather that you didn’t. We’re hopeful that people will kind of concentrate on their own driving, make sure they’re doing the right thing, and then we will take care of those that aren’t.”
While enforcement might be a sore spot, Morosi said there has been some good news. He said technical data shows a 46% reduction in crash rates in that area.
However, drivers I spoke to still see some confusion.
"Do you think the carpooling lanes are working?" I asked Matthew Mutchler.
“I don’t really know that they were necessary. That always kind of puzzled me because I never thought the traffic on I-75, especially this stretch, was too bad," he said.
"Have you noticed those signs for the carpooling lanes?" I asked Helena Yaldiko.
“Not really. It didn’t grab my attention, so obviously they are not very noticeable, you know?" she said.
If you have something that's driving you crazy, please email me at ali.hoxie@wxyz.com or reach out to me on social media.
