'Skeletor riding shotgun': Lone driver tried using fake skeleton for HOV lane

A 62-year-old driver put a disguised fake skeleton in his car’s passenger seat in an effort to use the high-occupancy vehicle lane of an Arizona freeway this week.

But the stunt didn’t work.

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The Arizona Public Safety Department said a trooper pulled over the man on Thursday after noticing the fake skeleton. It was tied to the front seat with a yellow rope and wearing a camouflage bucket hat.

A fake skeleton was found in the passenger seat after a State Trooper stopped a driver in an HOV lane in Phoenix.Arizona Dept. of Public Safety via AP

Troopers shared an image of the odd finding on Twitter, saying, “Think you can use the HOV lane with Skeletor riding shotgun? You’re dead wrong!

Skeletor is a fictional villain, the nemesis of He-Man, in the Masters of the Universe comic series.

The real-life driver in Arizona has been cited for violations of HOV and car window-tint rules, according to the state Public Safety Department.

Every year, approximately 7,000 drivers in Arizona are cited for violating HOV regulations, department spokesman Raúl García told The Associated Press.

Last April, a man was pulled over after driving in the HOV lane with a mannequin wearing a sweatshirt, baseball cap and sunglasses, the AP reported.

source: nbcnews.com