Hearse driver gets pulled over for using the HOV lane

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.

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 occupant requirement for the lane.

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.