VC 21655.5TBWD eligibleCarpool / HOV
HOV / carpool lane
Use of a designated high-occupancy-vehicle (carpool) lane without meeting occupancy requirements.
Vehicle Code 21655.5 — statutory text
Official source ↗(b) Upon a highway where preferential lanes for high-occupancy vehicles are established by a local authority pursuant to subdivision (a), the Department of Transportation or the local authority, as appropriate, shall place and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, signs and other official traffic control devices to designate the preferential lanes and to advise motorists of the applicable vehicle occupancy levels. No person shall drive a vehicle upon those lanes except in conformity with the instructions imparted by the official traffic control devices.
Quoted from the California Legislative Information website. The full section may contain additional subdivisions not reproduced here — click “Official source” for the complete text as currently in force.
Base fine
$490.00
Does not include court fees or assessments.
DMV points
1
Points raise your insurance.
Filing window
30 days
From citation date, use form TR-205-2024.
You can file a Trial by Written Declaration
Under CA Vehicle Code § 40902, infractions may be contested in writing. If the officer fails to respond within their required window, your ticket is dismissed. California requires a bail deposit equal to the fine; it is refunded if dismissed.
Defenses our AI considers (13)
- Equipment fixed — correctable violationhistorical success ~80%Equipment violations (window tint, exhaust, lights, plates, wipers, etc.) are correctable in every supported state. Proof of repair signed by a qualified inspector resolves the citation administratively.
- Documentary cure — proof on date of citationhistorical success ~75%Many "failure to produce" charges (insurance, registration, license) are dismissed on proof the document existed and was valid on the date of citation. This is codified in most state fix-it / correctable-violation statutes.
- Sign obscured, missing, or recently changedhistorical success ~50%A driver cannot be held to a regulation that was not reasonably communicated. An obscured, damaged, missing, or recently-changed sign at the cited location is both a mistake-of-fact defense and a due-process notice defect.
- Statute of limitations / speedy-trial violationhistorical success ~45%Every state imposes statutory deadlines between citation, arraignment, and trial. When the state misses a jurisdictional deadline — including officer-declaration deadlines in TBWD proceedings — dismissal is mandatory, not discretionary.
Our AI drafts 3 options per case, tailored to your ticket's facts. You choose or regenerate.