WESTMINSTER, Colo. -- A 53-year-old driver on the Boulder Turnpike was busted Thursday morning for trying to use a mannequin as his passenger in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane, Westminster police said.

Greg Allen Pringle was given a $115 ticket and his mannequin was confiscated and booked into evidence.

Officer Mark Watters often patrols Highway 36 between Sheridan Boulevard and Zuni Street and said he remembered seeing the same vehicle in the HOV lane before and thought that the passenger didn't look right. On Thursday, he saw that vehicle again and realized the passenger was not a person but a mannequin dressed in a baseball cap and a gray sweatshirt.

Westminster police say traffic officers spend a large amount of time patrolling this area during the rush hour because of traffic violations and traffic accidents. Whenever a driver is ticketed for driving in the HOV lane, they often tell officers that they were tired of sitting in traffic watching single drivers pass them in the HOV lane, police said.

The HOV lane is for people traveling by bus, riding a motorcycle, or who are in vehicles with two or more persons in the car. Hybrid vehicles with a lone driver are also allowed to use the HOV lane.