Driver’s tinted windows didn’t hide spooky passenger in HOV lane, Arizona cops say
An Arizona man learned this week that a skeleton dressed up in a camouflage bucket hat does not qualify as a human passenger — at least not when state troopers are concerned.
A trooper pulled over the 62-year-old driver in a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in Tempe on Thursday morning and discovered the spooky, inanimate prop riding in the passenger seat, Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers said on Twitter.
The traffic stop was on State Route 101 near Apache Boulevard.
“Think you can use the HOV lane with Skeletor riding shotgun?” troopers asked. “You’re dead wrong!”
The man was cited for HOV lane and window tint violations, troopers said.
According to KTAR, “The skeleton is a new twist on creative but failed efforts to avoid heavy traffic on Valley freeways … Vehicles must have at least two people aboard from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays-Fridays to legally use the HOV lanes. Violators are subject to $400 fines.”
There are some exceptions to HOV rules.
KUTV reports that “by federal law, states may allow energy-efficient vehicles with single occupants to use the lane at a reduced toll. However, the Arizona man wasn’t driving in one.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Driver’s tinted windows didn’t hide spooky passenger in HOV lane, Arizona cops say."
