I don't understand the adoration some Californians have for the carpool lane. It is an achingly rare occasion that you can actually go any faster there than in any other lane. If caught in traffic, you will actually go slower, as the carpool lane limits movement in and out, and so when drivers actually have to leave, they tend to get confused and slow to a crawl, hoping that diminishing their momentum will make the end of the yellow lines clearer. Frankly, the real sweet spot, particularly in traffic, are the rightmost lanes, as most everyone fancies themselves savvy drivers and knows, knows, knows that the left lanes are quicker. Hence, they left lanes fill up, and the right lanes pass them.
