{"id":3963002,"date":"2024-06-20T06:43:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mynorthwest.com\/?p=3963002"},"modified":"2024-06-20T06:43:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:43:08","slug":"wsp-driver-caught-impressive-dummy-evade-fines-hov-lanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mynorthwest.com\/3963002\/wsp-driver-caught-impressive-dummy-evade-fines-hov-lanes\/","title":{"rendered":"WSP: Driver caught using impressive dummy to evade fines while using HOV lanes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-tl066j-0 fGpOKu body-paragraph\">Despite using one of the more convincing dummies seen as of late, Washington State Patrol (WSP) ticketed a man for driving in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes with a fake &#8220;dummy&#8221; passenger &#8212; a sight not too uncommon for patrol officers in the state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-tl066j-0 fGpOKu body-paragraph\">On Wednesday, a WSP District 2 motorcycle trooper spotted an Acura on the highway with a dummy in the passenger seat of his car to use the HOV lane, stopping the driver on Interstate 405 (I-405) heading south near Interstate 90 (I-90).<\/p>\n<p>According to WSP Trooper Rick Johnson, the driver said he had been using the dummy for a long time &#8220;due to carpooling being so screwed up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>More Chokepoints<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/mynorthwest.com\/3962921\/sullivan-pierce-county-spanaway-loop-pacific-avenue-shortcut-close-four-months\/#\/\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pierce County\u2019s Spanaway Loop shortcut to close for four months<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AnotherDummy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AnotherDummy<\/a> SB 405 near I-90 ! The human driver explained he had been using this for a long time due to carpooling being so screwed up. The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wastatepatrol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wastatepatrol<\/a> district 2 motorcycle crew addressed this dummy. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kEwAounfRp\">pic.twitter.com\/kEwAounfRp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Trooper Rick Johnson (@wspd2pio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wspd2pio\/status\/1803559397672755711?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The dummy can be seen adorned with glasses and a goatee while wearing a Columbia zip-up and appropriately wearing a seatbelt.<\/p>\n<h2>Drivers getting creative to use HOV lanes<\/h2>\n<p>Some Washington drivers have come up with unique ploys to avoid HOV citations. Last October, WSP pulled a driver over in an HOV lane when troopers discovered the driver\u2019s passenger turned out to be a &#8220;creepy clown dummy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Love the Halloween vibe, but still doesn\u2019t count,&#8221; Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wspd2pio\/status\/1715547929694613819\/photo\/2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The stunt, while humorous to Johnson and other WSP troopers, added an extra fine to the infraction for improper use of the HOV lanes.<\/p>\n<p>A month earlier, a driver was busted by WSP for dressing his passenger seat as a person. The seat was dressed up with a purple vest wrapped around the back, a red scarf and a white Halloween mask with blood splatter on it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8216;My dog identifies as a person:&#8217;<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/mynorthwest.com\/3956097\/my-dog-identifies-as-a-person-excuses-pile-up-wsp-increases-hov-patrols\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Excuses pile up as WSP increases HOV patrols<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Dummy stunt results in higher fines<\/h2>\n<p>The fine for a first HOV lane violation is $186. But if a doll or dummy is in the car, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiro7.com\/news\/local\/unqualified-passenger-carpool-lane-gets-driver-pulled-over\/3X2ALLOWAVBB7MJ34OLOVGGXTA\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KIRO 7<\/a>, an extra $200 is added to the fine.<\/p>\n<p><em>Contributing: KIRO 7<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mynorthwest.com\/author\/fsumrall\/\">here<\/a>\u00a0and you can email him\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:fsumrall@bonneville.com\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":25,"protected":false},"author":185,"featured_media":3963003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WSP: Driver caught using impressive dummy to evade fines while using HOV lanes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Washington State Patrol (WSP) trooper ticketed a man for driving in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes with a fake 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