A New York driver faces a $135 fine for driving solo in the HOV lane. She thought she could skirt the law by placing a be-scarfed mannequin in the passenger seat. What foiled her nefarious plans? It turns out that the cops thought it was too cloudy a day for the passenger to be wearing sun glasses, and pulled the duo over to check it out. Sounds like probable cause to me.
So if you’re planning on trying a similar scheme make sure that – if you happen upon the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County – to let the dummy do the driving.
Source:[ Yahoo News]
(AP Photo/Suffolk County Sheriff)
Which One's The Dummy? HOV Scofflaw Gets Picayune Penalty
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30 responses to “Which One's The Dummy? HOV Scofflaw Gets Picayune Penalty”
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Sounds like a BS pullover to me. Being from New York, all that I have to say is that the cops will eventually overstep their bounds to get you- even if you didn't do anything wrong. I've been there and seen that many times. Probably has nothing to do with being a college student though. Nope. That's not it.
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Hey, he thought she was hot. In continuing my apparent PeeWee Herman theme (Big Adventure was on the tube last night):
Why'd you stop us, officer?
"I just wanted to take a look at that cute little outfit you're wearing."
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There are many legitimate reasons for a passenger to be wearing sunglasses, even when it's cloudy. I don't like that justification for "probable cause." There's probably more to the story, and I didn't click the link, but if they saw the sunglasses, maybe they could see that "she" wasn't moving at all, or such.
As an aside, I don't like the concept of HOV lanes. (now we don't have them in Michigan, so maybe my facts are off, but…) Don't my taxes pay for the same roads? Because my work schedule routinely takes me to more then one location in a day, making it impossible to car pool I can't utilize what my tax dollars have been spent on? Aren't HOV lanes reducing the fuel economy of all the vehicles in the other lanes, if they are sitting in stop and go traffic?
Anyhow, she should be wearing sunglasses, she looks like a hooker.-
According to those who built the lanes and count the cars and the people, the HOV lanes do work, at least in the Seattle area. We also have reversible express lanes that help out a lot as long as you are headed the direction most other people are. Many businesses sponsor ride share or carpool programs. One benefit for those who cannot carpool is fewer cars in the main lanes.
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Not trying to call ya out or anything, but of course the people who BUILT the lanes say they work!
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You aren't calling me out, that's why I put it in there.
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didn't pick up on that as I should have, sorry.
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There's an interesting phenomenon that occurs on the Seattle area freeways, especially 405 between Bellevue and Renton. From about 3:30 to 7:00 it's packed. You can get going for a while, then there's a junction and you have to stop because of the merging traffic. 6:59 sh*t's still packed, 7:00 rolls around and the HOV lane opens up to all vehicles… by about 7:15 traffic's flowing.
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It's not "probable cause" they need- it's "reasonable suspicion." Much lower standard, particularly in NY. Cops just have to be able to articulate some potential crime and identify some fact that made them suspicious. Still pretty iffy in this case.
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Guys, let's not loose sight of the fact that this woman was a douche bag for pulling this and deserved that fine.
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I can see both sides. She broke the law, she deserves a ticket. It's a douche maneuver perhaps in the same vein as parking in a handicapped spot.
However, I think we're focusing on the wider implications of the reasons police can have (or create) to make a traffic stop, which I think is an engaging topic.
End note: Anyone else trying this, make sure you buy your mannequin "Transitions" lenses.-
Those never darken inside a modern car anyway – the solar glass blocks the UV light necessary to trigger the transition.
As the company themselves write:
"Windshields in today’s vehicles block most of the UV rays that cause Transitions lenses to activate, or darken. As a result, when worn inside a car where less UV light is present, the ability of the lenses to darken is reduced."
Unfortunate but true. They do me well on foot/on a bicycle/with the window down, though.-
Ruin my good idea, will ya?!?!?!?!
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Well, with the window down and the sun at the right angle, it'll work…
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Simple, mount a UV bulb to the passenger side sun visor, et Voila!
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Fair enough. I've been reading a lot of comments lately that slam the po po and I guess I feel I need to defend them a bit from ad hominem "OMG, cops are teh SUCK" statements (which is not to say that this is happening in this case, just sayin'.). The fact is that they have a sucky job that I would never want and I appreciate that there are folks who are willing to jump on that thankless grenade for the rest of us.
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Legs schmeggs..I THINK SHE'S HOT!
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In a quadriplegic-Michael-Jackson sorta way, maybe.
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Only because she can't run?
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Or Stalk you!
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Great – I get a warm, fuzzy feeling from knowing cops are pulling over people for traffic violations other than the easy speeding (and slightly less easy running a light). If I ever hear of someone getting pulled over for not keeping right (let alone see it), I'd break out in tears of joy.
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+1 internets on the not-keeping-right pull over. A friend of mine is a supervisor for the local traffic beat. I asked him what it would take to get that particular section of the law enforced, and he gave me that "don't even go there" look. They don't care. sigh…
As much as she deserves the fine, even a halfwit attorney will be able to get this dismissed in about 2 seconds. Couldn't they have come up with something better as reason to pull her over, obscured license plate, burned out light, "erratic driving", hell, I'd even accept leaking blinker fluid onto the roadway (that stuffs flammable don't ya know).
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Excuse me maam, do you know why I pulled you over? It's your Wankler Flange, it's about to fall off. That's a huge hazard you know…
Apparently some cops do not realize that shades are fashion statements. Sheesh.
Where's the rest of me!?!
Boy, a $135 fine? That's not too shabby. The fine is well over $300 in California.
What a pathetic stunt to pull. I hope they throw the book at her.
Damn women drivers!
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"Let she who is without sin…", or something along those lines, right?
I think it's funny as hell. Hell, she tried, give the gal that much credit. The fact that she got popped doesn't bother me, either. Good lord, if you're gonna ride outlaw, face the consequences when you get caught. I give the defendant credit for her fashion sense, at least the mannequin is a hottie. Come to think of it, if the "passenger" had been a balding dude or looked like a nice older lady, the cop probably never would have checked her out. Until he realized that he was looking at sculpture, the poor bastard was probably getting a woody.
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