Another HOV Dummy: Renton Police Nab Driver With Mannequin

RENTON, WA - Another scofflaw has tried - and failed - to cheat the HOV lane rules. On Wednesday morning, Renton police pulled over a driver in the city with a mannequin in the passenger seat. This time, the driver used a safety dummy (like one you practice CPR on) dressed up in a baseball hat and T-shirt.

As far as fake "passengers" used to cheat HOV rules, however, this dummy isn't so bad. HOV lane cheats often use hilariously bad props to simulate a human form. There's the one where someone just put a baseball hat on the head rest; another person simply put a hooded sweatshirt on a piece of wood.

Then there's the tale of the Washington woman who used a disfigured dummy to cheat the HOV rules. In 2015, a Washington State Patrol officer pulled over a woman for speeding in the HOV lane along I-5 near Lynnwood. When he looked inside her car, he noticed a mangled body wearing a Seahawks sweatshirt in the passenger seat. The trooper asked the woman, "What's up with your passenger?" and the woman said, "Nothing." When the trooper asked the woman to ask her passenger to sit up, she said simply, "I can't."

And more evidence that HOV lane cheats aren't so smart: in February, Washington State Patrol pulled over a man SPEEDING in the HOV lane near Tacoma with a dummy in the passenger seat.

If you see an HOV lane violator - or just a funny looking passenger - you can report it to state police by calling 1-877-764-HERO.

Renton police Officer Jesse VanderHoek snapped this photo on Wednesday morning.

Image via Renton police