This past Thursday, a man in Arizona was caught trying to use a fake skeleton to drive in the high-occupancy lane, reports NBC News . He dressed the skeleton in a camouflage bucket hat and clothing before sliding it into the passenger seat of his car. For those unfamiliar, a HOV lane is exclusive to drivers with at least one passenger in their car, typically so those doing carpools can get to their destination faster.
Unfortunately for the 62-year-old driver, a state trooper happened to notice something was amiss about his vehicle and pulled him over. He saw that the fake occupant was tied to the seat with a yellow piece of cord. The driver was initially pulled over for window tint violations when the trooper noticed his strange passenger. It’s possible that the man may have gotten away with his scheme had he not been caught for a different infraction.
The Department of Public Safety in Arizona shared an amusing image of the skeleton on its official Twitter page. The photo showed the tattered outfit the skeleton had been dressed in to pass it off as a human being.
“Think you can use the HOV lane with Skeletor riding shotgun? You’re dead wrong!” said the tweet.
The article states that instances like this one are surprisingly common and that “approximately 7,000 drivers in Arizona are cited for violating HOV regulations” every year. Last April, another person was cited after getting caught riding around with a disguised mannequin.
Think you can use the HOV lane with Skeletor riding shotgun? You’re dead wrong! ?? One of our motor troopers cited the 62-year-old male driver for HOV & window tint violations on SR-101 near Apache Blvd this morning. #NiceTry #YoureNotHeMan #AZTroopers pic.twitter.com/wQYY831mNY
— Dept. of Public Safety (@Arizona_DPS) January 23, 2020
People on social media found the entire incident hilarious. Several users responded to the tweet with jokes about the photograph and even teased that they would have given him a ticket for his poor fashion taste. A couple of people added GIFs of Skeletor, the cartoon character referenced in the original tweet. Others even said that they should have given the guy a pass for his creativity.
“And if that didn’t work, add a citation for a passenger not wearing a seat belt ,” joked one person.
“But officer, he was alive when I left the house. The traffic was really bad,” wrote another user.
However, others thought it was a waste of resources. At least one person thought it was concerning that a state trooper was paying more attention to window tint violations than actual speeders and reckless drivers on the highways.
“Meanwhile during this traffic stop I’m sure speeders and reckless drivers enjoyed seeing you cite this man for his tint as they flew past. Smh,” they said.
