In Nevada, a Dead Body Won’t Satisfy the HOV Lane Rules

NO, A DEAD BODY IN THE CAR ISN’T A PASSENGER FOR NEVADA’S HOV LANE RULES

I love HOV lanes when I’m in a hurry to get somewhere and I’m not driving alone. Of course, this love is totally dependent on whether the multi-person-per-vehicle lane is moving faster than the normal ones. But usually, it’s a safe bet. And then there are the days when I’m driving alone, looking morosely to my left at all the traffic going faster, wishing I had a realistic inflatable doll or a mannequin to fool the troopers. And people actually do use those! But in Nevada this week, a driver discovered that transporting a dead body doesn’t count, either. The rules, apparently, are for the living.

TROOPER SAW A MINIVAN WITH ONLY A DRIVER, WAS TAKEN ABACK TO SEE DEAD BODY

It was on Monday that Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Travis Smaka saw a mini-van go by that didn’t seem to have anyone in it besides the driver. So he pulled the car over and had a new experience on the job. Apparently, the driver worked for a funeral home and was transporting -you guessed it- a dead body. I’m pretty sure I’ve never done that before, aside from flattened bugs on the windshield and grill. But a non-living body doesn’t count to the HOV Lane passenger minimum. The dead can’t be passengers when it comes to the rules of the road.

Rochester Reservoir Had Boil Water Notice for Dead Body

AN HOV LANE HAS MINIMUM PASSENGER REQUIREMENTS, AND THE DEAD ARE JUST BAGGAGE

The driver immediately told Trooper Smaka that there was a dead body behind him in the car. So he took a look and saw that there was indeed a body in a body bag strapped onto a gurney. Trooper Smaka said, “It kind of threw me off a little bit, and then he just made the funny remark, something along the lines of, ‘So he won’t count?’.” Alas, no. A dead body isn’t a passenger for an HOV Lane. They’ve already reached their final destination, as it were. But fortunately for the funeral home dead body in a mini-van driver, Trooper Smaka just let him off with a warning.

But apparently, this has happened before!