Dummy

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. -- The police officer was no dummy, but the passenger was.

Police in Suffolk County, N.Y., have ticketed a driver for propping a first-aid practice mannequin in his passenger seat to fake his way into a highway car-pool lane. The mustachioed dummy was fitted out with a baseball cap and buckled into a seatbelt.

The officer who pulled the car over on the Long Island Expressway Friday says he was "trying to hold back a chuckle."

The driver is shrugging off the $90 fine. After all, his plan had been working for months. He said the dummy nicknamed Gilligan has been helping him cut his hour-plus commute since October, by getting him into lanes designated for cars with two or more people.

But he said he'll stick to the regular lanes from now on.