A 56-year-old Brentwood man allegedly used a faceless wooden dummy in the passenger seat of his truck to drive in the HOV lane on the Long Island Expressway, Suffolk County police said.
A Highway Patrol officer stopped James Campbell for allegedly speeding in his pickup truck as he was heading westbound near Exit 51 in Dix Hills at 6:30 a.m. Friday, police said.
“When the officer approached the vehicle, he noticed…a wooden figure wearing a hooded sweatshirt in the passenger seat,” police said in a news release.
Campbell allegedly told the officer that he was driving to a new job and did not want to be late, according to authorities.
The driver was issued summonses for speeding and occupancy violation.
The case is not the first time someone has been summonsed for driving with a dummy in the HOV lane. A Mount Sinai woman was caught doing the same thing five years ago.
