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Driver caught on I-5 in Kent using fake passenger in HOV lane

Published 11:53 am Tuesday, July 16, 2024

By Steve Hunter

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A State Patrol trooper ticketed a woman driver for speeding in the HOV lane of Interstate 5 in Kent and for an HOV violation. The woman had what she called a “training aid” in the vehicle in an effort to show she had a passenger to not violate the two-person rule for using the lane. COURTESY PHOTO, Washington State Patrol

Drivers keep trying ways to add fake passengers in their vehicles in an effort to use HOV lanes that require at least two people in a car to use the lanes.

A Washington State Patrol trooper recently cited a woman in an HOV lane on southbound Interstate 5 in Kent near South 272nd Street for driving 80 mph in a 60 mph zone and for the HOV violation. The trooper discovered the woman had a fake passenger in the vehicle.

“The driver said this is her training aid and the reason it was positioned this way was to properly dry the hair,” according to State Patrol spokesperson Trooper Rick Johnson in a July 14 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The fine for an HOV violation is $186 but can be made more if it’s a second offense within a certain period of time and there is an enhancement fine of $99 if you use a mannequin or something of that sort, Johnson said in a July 16 email to the Kent Reporter.

Johnson said he didn’t know if the trooper added the $99 enhancement to the HOV violation to the driver’s ticket.

For years, the State Patrol has released photos of catching drivers trying to make it look like they have a passenger.

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