52 ticketed for Eastside HOV violations in 2 hours

State troopers operated special traffic-enforcement efforts in three Eastside areas over the weekend, with a high number of citations issued.

One emphasis patrol was on Highway 520 in Medina at 84th Avenue Northeast, reported Trooper Jeff Merrill, public-information officer for the Washington State Patrol.

Several troopers worked on high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lane enforcement for two hours and issued 52 citations for car-pool-lane cheaters using the westbound HOV lane. The troopers also found one drug violation and a person driving with a suspended license.

Merrill noted that HOV cheating draws the most complaints to the State Patrol in King County.

In the second effort, five troopers worked for three hours along Interstate 90 near Preston in conjunction with the State Patrol airplane.

During that time, 31 infractions were cited, with six of the tickets issued for vehicles going more than 90 mph and one driver cited for going 104 mph.

That area remains first in the state for having the greatest number of vehicles — 6,536 — recorded as traveling more than 90 mph in a three-month period, Merrill said.

The third patrol was along I-90 at Eastgate and lasted several hours. Troopers issued 25 tickets for vehicles traveling at speeds of 76 mph to 92 mph.

All were conducted in response to speed-and-collision data collected for each quarter of a year.