On Monday, Trooper Travis Smaka pulled over a Chrysler Town and Country vehicle operated by a funeral home that was traveling in a Las Vegas high occupancy vehicle lane, KVVU-TV reported.
When Smaka told the driver why he was being pulled over, Smaka said the driver pointed to the back and asked, "He doesn't count?" The driver was referring to the dead person he was transporting.
Today we stopped a local funereal home hearse in the HOV lane. The driver had the dearly departed in the back, he thought the deceased could be counted as two people. I guess we should clarify this, living, breathing people count for the HOV lane. The driver was given a warning pic.twitter.com/OQms0ktl8t
— NHP Southern Command (@NHPSouthernComm) July 1, 2019
“The driver was dead serious,” NHP Trooper Jason Buratczuk said in a statement. “We don’t want to beat the rules of the HOV lanes to death, but you must have a living, breathing human occupying the seats in the vehicle to be in compliance with HOV lane rules."
Smaka informed the driver that the dead man didn't count and let him off with a warning.
"I'm fairly certain I can safely say this was by far the strangest excuse for being in the HOV lane a trooper in Las Vegas has ever heard," Smaka told KVVU-TV.
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