Ontario Driver Charged With Using Fake Passenger to Access Carpool Lane

An Ontario woman was charged after police found a coat being used as a fake passenger while driving in a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on Queen Elizabeth Way on Sept. 5, 2024. Ontario Provincial Police

Ontario police have charged a 21-year-old woman with a carpool lane violation after they found a coat being used to simulate another occupant in the passenger seat.

Burlington police were conducting routine enforcement Sept. 5 on the westbound high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) or “carpool” lanes of Queen Elizabeth Way at around 5 p.m., when they noticed “something wasn’t quite right,” police said in a post on X.

Upon pulling the driver over, they found the motorist using her coat to simulate another passenger in order to access the less-congested lane.

The driver was charged with an HOV violation, which typically involves a $110 fine and three demerit points.

HOV lanes on highways are designed to manage congestion by encouraging carpooling and public transit use, according to the Ontario government website. The lanes also aim to help reduce air pollution from transportation-related emissions and optimize infrastructure investments.

In Ontario, HOV lanes are reserved for vehicles such as cars, vans, or trucks with at least two passengers, including the driver. Some vehicles, such as buses, licensed cabs and emergency vehicles may use these lanes at all times regardless of the number of passengers.

Vehicles with Ontario green licence plates, given to qualifying types of low-carbon-emission vehicles, can also drive in HOV lanes, as can motorcycles and airport limousines with any number of riders.

HOV lanes in Ontario are on the far-left side on many sections of 400-series highways. They are marked with signs, diamond pavement markings, and a striped buffer zone that separates them from other lanes.

The HOV lane system has also been implemented in provinces like Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec.

It’s not the first time a driver has been fined for faking a passenger to access the lanes.

A man accused of driving in the HOV lane with two mannequins in 2015 (L) and photo of a mannequin found in a car driving in an HOV lane in 2017. Toronto Police/Ontario Provincial Police

In 2015, the Toronto police stopped a man driving in a HOV lane with two suspicious passengers. Upon closer examination, police found both passengers were fully-dressed mannequins wearing seat belts. The driver was charged.

In 2017, Ontario police charged a motorist driving in a HOV lane with a mannequin in the passenger seat. The mannequin was also fully dressed and carried a comb on its lap.

“This doll will not provide much conversation and does not qualify you to drive in the HOV lane!!” wrote the police in a July 2017 post on X.