What's a "Diamond Lane"?
At 18.17, S4 E6, Larry says:
I picked her (a prostitute) up so I can use the diamond lane so I can get the stadium in time for the game
What does this mean? Why couldn't he have taken the diamond lane without her?
Best Answer
A "diamond lane" is another name for a "HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) Lane," so named because they are typically marked with diamonds painted on the pavement (and sometimes on lighted signs above them).
A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, including carpools, vanpools, and transit buses. These restrictions may be only imposed during peak travel times or may apply at all times (Wikipedia)
These lanes are designed to encourage carpooling and using public transit, and typically have fewer cars present in them than the regular lanes usable by single-occupant vehicles. During rush hour periods, the traffic in them is commonly much lighter than that in the regular lanes, which leads to people attempting to "scam" their way into the lanes through use of items like blow-up dolls, mannequins, and the like to attempt to appear that they have a passenger present.
The implication of the line in the question is that the person speaking was driving a single-occupancy vehicle and would have been caught up in heavy, slow-moving traffic, preventing a timely arrival. He picked up the prostitute not because of her profession, but because she would be a second person in the vehicle, allowing him entry to the express/HOV/diamond lane and faster travel to his destination, where he would then let her out. He could also have found a friend to travel with him, or used a dummy of some sort; hiring a prostitute for a task well outside what's normally expected is a way to add humor to the situation.
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