GLENDORA, Calif. (KSWB) — A solo driver’s joyride in the carpool lane was cut short when a California Highway Patrol officer discovered a realistic mannequin masquerading as a passenger.
Around 4 p.m. Friday, a California Highway Patrol officer stopped a Toyota Tacoma in the high-occupancy vehicle lane on Interstate 210 in Glendora, Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said. The officer had suspicions about whether the “passenger” was a real person and pulled over the driver of the pickup truck for tinted windows, Jimenez said. When the officer got a closer look, he saw it was in fact a mannequin sitting in the passenger seat.
“This is the most realistic mannequin that we have ever seen,” Jimenez said.
The dummy resembled an older man with realistic facial wrinkles and gray hair. It was dressed in a red flannel shirt, a Cleveland Indians ball cap, reading glasses and even donned a face mask.
The officer gave the driver a ticket for carpool lane violation, which can cost close to $500, Jimenez said.
“By far, one of the best dummies we have ever seen,” CHP Baldwin said in a Facebook post. “To clarify, we are referring to this fake passenger. At least he was following CDC guidelines by wearing his face mask.”