Woman pretends coat is passenger to drive in HOV lane on the QEW: OPP

A driver used an empty coat to simulate a passenger so she could use the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane during rush-hour on the QEW, Ontario police say. (X/@OPP_HSD)

A driver used an empty coat to simulate a passenger so she could use the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane during rush-hour on the QEW, Ontario police say.

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said they were conducting HOV enforcement when they saw the 21-year-old driver and the puffy coat passenger heading westbound in Burlington at around 5:10 p.m. on Friday.

In a post on X, police said she has been charged for an HOV violation. While OPP did not say what the penalty was, drivers typically face a fine of $110 and three demerit points.

This is not the first time drivers came up with creative ways to use the HOV lane.

In 2015, one Toronto driver dressed up mannequins and strapped them into passenger seats in their Dodge pickup.

“On a positive note, everyone in the vehicle was wearing a seatbelt," police said at the time, adding the driver faced an HOV offence.

Another driver in 2017 also used this method with a doll, which was also all dressed up with its seatbelt on and a comb on its lap.

Drivers can use HOV lanes when there are two or more people inside of the car. However, bus drivers, taxi drivers, motorcyclists and emergency vehicles can use these lanes at all times.

With files from Paul Johnston