Police let air out of apparent traffic scam

Police said they caught a man driving in the HOV lane in Oakville Wednesday with a blow-up doll in the passenger seat.

Ontario Provincial Police said a driver phoned police to say it looked like the car didn't qualify to be in the high-occupancy lane.

Burlington OPP Constable Graham Williamson said the car was headed eastbound on the Queen Elizabeth Way near Guelph Line during Wednesday morning's rush hour. When officers pulled the vehicle over, an inflatable doll dressed in a jacket and cap, was found buckled in the passenger's seat.

"It was quite garish," Williamson said. "It was really quite crude."

The driver was charged with improper use of the HOV lane.

Williamson said it was the first time he has heard of someone trying to fake their way into the HOV lane since the lanes opened through Oakville in November.

However, he is not surprised that it did happen.

"This is the first time that I am aware that we have actually had this happen," he said. "That is not to say that it isn't happening more often."