HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes were a clever way to force carpooling. HOT [1] (high occupancy toll) lanes are new to me. Are you ready for change? Will we let technology control our lives? Are drivers ready to be scanned like groceries at the supermarket [2]? The answer will help determine whether Washington area commuters use a planned network of high-occupancy and toll lanes, which will start to take shape next year when an expansion of the Capital Beltway is to begin. ... The private companies that will build and operate the Beltway lanes have proposed using technology that would scan drivers and passengers with bursts of infrared light that detect human skin. The technology is so sophisticated that it can distinguish human faces from decoy dummies and shotgun-riding dogs, according to Ken Daley, a senior vice president at toll road operator Transurban, one of two private companies behind the Beltway project. ... Still, she noted that drivers can decide whether to subject themselves to the systems. "If they just can't stomach that, then they have their choice, right next to it, to use the general-purpose lane," Goodin said. Are they going to far? Do we have to accept change just because it's possible? To those who feel if you are doing nothing wrong, so what? Is it okay to be scanned by infrared while traveling?