SoCal driver busted using plastic dummy to carpool

A driver in Southern California took their need to speed along in the carpool lane to the next level.

California Highway Patrol officers in Santa Fe Springs found a life-size doll sitting in the passenger seat of the carpool violator. The agency joked in an Instagram post Thursday that they found the driver's "plastic friend" only after initially pulling them over for allegedly crossing double yellow lines.

The minimum fine for a carpool violation in California is $490.

"So folks have been asking, "If I have a mannequin in the passenger seat, does that count as a second occupant in the vehicle?" the agency wrote in the post. "The answer is simple... NO."

"We've gotta give it to them, the appearance is next level modeling but at the end of the day… plastic is plastic," the post read. "The goatee was sharp … just a little too sharp."

Officers cited the driver for multiple alleged carpool violations.