American police have confiscated various sex toys and also caught drivers using their dogs to trick officers into thinking they were carrying a passenger. One man was caught holding a tennis racket over the passenger seat while he drove with the other hand.

In California, a woman contested a fine on the ground that she was pregnant at the time and the unborn child was her passenger.

Drivers frequently cruise bus queues seeking passengers before entering what are known in the US as “highoccupancy vehicle”, or HOV lanes.

Students in California have been known to charge drivers $5 (£2.90) for the privilege of transporting them to college.

This month a judge in Denver, Colorado, ordered a man who had used a mannequin in a car pool lane to stand with it by the side of the road with a sign saying: “The HOV lane is not for dummies.” Greg Pringle had dressed “Tillie” to make her look as realistic as possible and his ruse worked for several weeks.

Judge John Stiptech fined Pringle $100 (£58) and ordered him to spend four one-hour sessions standing beside the road. The judge added: “But remember, the dummy is not charged with anything.”

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