Oh, yes, diamond lanes are soooo wonderful! Constructing them takes valuable land and limited infrastructure dollars (many of which get stolen for other purposes by the state lazyslature) and creates a limited-use lane for elitist do-gooders and scoff-law not-so-do-gooders. What do you end up with? A lane that runs below maximum practical capacity at peak traffic times, as well as a situation that creates a dangerous speed differential between the No. 1 and 2 lanes. Any person with a pulse can see traffic congestion is HAMPERED, not helped, by a less-than-full capacity lane. But wait, you say, the CHP enforces diamond lanes, so they always work the way they are intended! Has anyone noticed there are fewer CHP and a lot more cars on the road these days? Does anyone think diamond lanes take precedence over higher-priority safety enforcement? Diamond lanes are nothing more than an exercise in social engineering, income redistribution under a different label.