The California Highway Patrol (CHP) for Marin County recently pulled over a driver in the HOV lane. The reason? He was using a mannequin to fulfill the multiple-passenger requirement. To their credit, the driver at least tried to make the mannequin look a bit more human. It had clothes on, a hat, sunglasses, and even some tattoos.
“That moment you get pulled over for a carpool violation and your passenger in the back chooses to remain silent,” CHP Marin wrote on a no longer available Facebook story. We aren’t sure if the 5th amendment applies to plastic, but it was worth a shot!
Now this North Bay area driver wouldn’t be the first to try something like this. In 2022, Brandy Bottone was given two different tickets in Texas for seemingly driving solo in the HOV lane. The pregnant woman argued that the state’s 6-week abortion ban meant her fetus counted as a person, so she was not in violation of the law.
Though, unlike this unnamed California driver, Bottone was successful in beating the first ticket.
