A motorist was cited recently for aggressive driving on Interstate 5 – and using a plastic skeleton as a “passenger” so he could drive in the carpool lane.

The driver was stopped at just after 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 after a state trooper spotted his silver Mazda going 82 mph and making several unsafe lane changes on northbound I-5 near South 272nd Street near Kent, according to the Washington State Patrol.

After stopping the driver, the trooper noticed that what he originally believed was a passenger was in fact a seat-belted plastic skeleton wearing a sweatshirt.  One of the lanes that the driver had used as he aggressively worked through traffic was the HOV lane, according to the state patrol.

The driver had no comment about his “passenger” and was cited for speed, unsafe lane change and the HOV violation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines aggressive driving as, “The commission of two or more moving violations that is likely to endanger other persons or property, or any single intentional violation that requires a defensive reaction of another driver.”

In an effort to locate and arrest those drivers who drive aggressively The Washington State Patrol makes use of marked patrol officers and the Aggressive Driving Apprehension Team (ADAT) program. The ADAT program uses unmarked/unconventional police vehicles equipped with mobile video cameras to detect and apprehend aggressive drivers.