• A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper initiated a traffic stop on suspicion that a motorist was driving alone in the carpool lane on Monday.
  • The driver claimed the body of a deceased person in the back of his van counted as a passenger. The trooper was not having it.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Travis Smaka noticed a grey Chrysler van with a solo driver traveling in the carpool lane in the Las Vegas area on Monday and initiated a traffic stop.

The most common excuse Smaka has heard from drivers who violate the new local carpool lane laws have been that they didn’t know there are new rules governing use of the HOV lanes.

On this particular occasion, the driver had a different excuse. He had the body of a deceased person in the back.

“It threw me a little bit,” Trooper Smaka said in an interview with Business Insider. “I repeated what he just told me back to him to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Smaka realized the van was being used by a funeral home.

"I'm asking, 'Oh, you work for a funeral home?' and in my mind, I'm saying 'Please say yes," Smaka said.

The stop comes as law-enforcement official initiate stronger carpool-lane enforcement on Interstate 15. This year, 22 miles of HOV lanes were added to US 95 and Interstate 15 in Nevada, where the Monday traffic stop occurred.

The establishment of these lanes brought about new driving restrictions. While other HOV lanes in Nevada are only in effect and enforced during morning and evening rush hour, these new lanes in Las Vegas will have 24/7 enforcement.

The fine for driving solo in the carpool lane is $250, but in this case, the Trooper Smaka let the mortuary driver go with just a warning.

"This stop has brought up some interesting legal questions on social media in regards to the legality of a deceased person counting or not counting as a valid occupant of a vehicle," Nevada Highway Patrol spokesperson Jason Buratczuk wrote in an email statement.

"While we are sure this will be debated for a long time our take away is if you're not a mortuary and you get stopped by a Trooper for driving in the HOV lane with a dead body in your car, the HOV lane violation is going to be the least of your concerns."

The Highway Patrol posted a tweet on Monday informing people that only "living, breathing people" are counted for the HOV lanes requirement.