Driver busted with Halloween-themed fake passenger to use HOV lane
Oct 30, 2025, 6:57 AM
A photo of the fake passenger a driver attempted to use to drive in the HOV lane of I-5. (Photo courtesy of WSP)
(Photo courtesy of WSP)
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) caught another driver using a fake passenger in order to ride in the HOV lane.
This fake passenger fit the Halloween theme, with WSP Trooper Rick Johnson calling it a “scary HOV violation.”
#ScaryHOV violation NB 5 near I-90. #DoesNotCount pic.twitter.com/rGtd5QezDY
— Trooper Rick Johnson (@wspd2pio) October 29, 2025
Johnson is reminding the public that items do not count as humans. The driver was pulled over on northbound I-5 near the I-90 interchange.
Back in June, a woman had a similar plan, dressing up a fake skeleton in the back seat with a black t-shirt and a paper crown.
Her excuse? That she “accidentally left her Halloween decoration up,” Johnson wrote on X.
#AnotherOne on Monday SB 5 near 185th. HOV violator. The driver explained she accidentally left her Halloween decoration up!? pic.twitter.com/YUKbSBkUx0
— Trooper Rick Johnson (@wspd2pio) June 18, 2025
Follow Frank Sumrall on X. Send news tips here.

