Driver used dummy to ride in New York carpool lane, police say
DIX HILLS, N.Y. — Police say a Long Island driver used a dummy tactic to try to take advantage of a carpool lane.
Suffolk County police say something about the front-seat passenger in a Saturn sedan raised Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Spina’s suspicions Monday on the Long Island Expressway in Dix Hills.
Spina pulled the car over and found that the “passenger” was actually a mannequin, dolled up in a sweatshirt, jeans, baseball cap and sunglasses.
The 34-year-old driver was ticketed for carpool lane violations.
Similar cases have happened from time to time on the L.I.E. and elsewhere, with police saying drivers deployed phony passengers ranging from mannequins to teddy bears.
In September 2016, a Seattle-area driver was even ticketed for carpooling with a cardboard cutout of then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
