Washington State driver caught with stuffed dinosaur on interstate HOV lane

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – A trooper with the Washington State Patrol was in for a surprise when a driver was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 5 Wednesday morning.

According to Trooper Rick Johnson, the driver had a stuffed dinosaur buckled in the passenger seat of the car.

Troopers said the car was pulled over while speeding in the northbound high-occupancy vehicle lane of I-5 near the South 320th Street exit in Federal Way, KIRO7 reported.

“Even if you have a favorite stuffed animal it doesn’t count as a passenger for the HOV,” Johnson said in a tweet.

Troopers said in 2017, they pulled over 11,330 drivers for HOV lane violations.

KIRO 7 dug through those Washington State Patrol violations, and 428 of the ticketed drivers were repeat violators.

In 70,000 HOV violations spanning multiple years, the top “hot spot” is the northbound I-405 curve north of Renton, KIRO7 reported.

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