LAS VEGAS -- Nevada Highway Patrol says passengers must be alive in order to be counted as occupants in cars using the high occupancy vehicle lane.
The reminder was prompted by a traffic stop Monday involving a hearse traveling on the carpool lane on Interstate 15 in Las Vegas.
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A trooper pulled over the hearse that was transporting a dead body.
The agency says the hearse driver assumed the body in the back counted toward the two or more occupants requirement for the lane.
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The driver can be heard asking, "He won't count?" The trooper then laughs and replies, "He is not with us anymore."
The trooper let the driver off with a warning and advised him to move out of the lane.
The agency says only living, breathing people can be counted for the HOV lane.