Driver cited for using mannequin to drive in carpool lane

May 7 (UPI) -- Police in New York state said a driver was cited after a sharp-eyed officer noticed he was using the carpool lane with a mannequin as his passenger.

The Suffolk County Police Department said Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Spina was driving Monday on the Long Island Expressway when he noticed something seemed suspicious about the passenger in a 2002 Saturn that was using the high-occupancy vehicle lane.

Spina pulled the vehicle over and discovered the passenger was indeed a dummy that had been disguised with clothes, sunglasses and a baseball cap.

The driver, James Britt, was cited for HOV occupancy violations.