When it comes to cheating the carpool lane in California, drivers can be creative.
There was the safety dummy that was misappropriated by impatient commuters. The mannequin wearing a baseball cap in Glendora and one with a drawn-on mustache in the Bay Area.
So by those standards, what the California Highway Patrol discovered when they pulled over a driver in the carpool lane in West Covina recently would be half-hearted.
According to a social media post by the CHP’s Baldwin Park office on Thursday, officers pulled over a driver in the high-occupancy vehicle lane of the 10 Freeway and found a jacket wrapped around the passenger seat headrest.
“Nice try — but jackets don’t count toward Carpool Lane requirements,” the CHP said in its post.
The incident unfolded when an officer on motorcycle patrol noticed the vehicle traveling in the HOV lane and initially passed it, authorities said.
“The officer was on patrol on his motor and saw the vehicle in the HOV lane and passed the driver,” said Marissa McIntire of the CHP’s Southern Division.
McIntire said the officer became suspicious after a second look at the vehicle.
“The officer observed the vehicle again and thought it was fishy,” she said.
The officer pulled over the driver to get a closer look. Upon walking up to the vehicle, the officer saw the “passenger” was a jacket wrapped around the front seat with a seat belt fastened to resemble a person.
The driver was cited for violating the carpool lane, which could be more than a $400 ticket.
CHP officials regularly conduct enforcement operations targeting improper use of carpool lanes, including drivers attempting to evade rules by using mannequins or other objects to mimic passengers.
“Fictitious friends and mannequin copilots won’t cut it,” said CHP officials.
Authorities did not release the identity of the driver.
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