HOV lane or bust: Mannequins could be drivers’ ticket to ride
Torontonians are finding creative ways to enter the Pan Am Games high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes that came into effect Monday.
Salesman Shai Azoulay, 28, of North York has had an unusually high 17 inquiries about his $40-a-month mannequins since posting an ad on Kijiji Monday morning.
“It’s not cool or fair to Toronto to promote something like that, but people have mentioned the HOV lanes to me when they’re enquiring, and I’m happy selling them,” Azoulay said.
The new regulations have caused traffic chaos, with HOV lanes being lightly used while vehicles with fewer than three occupants suffer the congestion of reduced regular lanes.
“I’ve heard of that (people using mannequins) in the past, but not so far this year,” said Ontario Provincial Police spokesman Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.
In June 2011, a 51-year-old Burlington man was charged with two offences relating to improper use of HOV lanes after driving with a clothed inflatable mannequin in the passenger’s seat of his black SUV on the eastbound QEW near Dorval Dr. in Oakville.
A 39-year-old Aurora woman was the first in Ontario to be caught using a decoy to drive in the carpool lane, in March 2006. The “child” in her carseat turned out to be a stuffed winter coat.
Drivers who break the temporary HOV rules on provincial highways face fines of up to $110 and three demerit points. There is no extra fine for trying to fool the police with mannequins, Schmidt said.
Some more mainstream social media users, however, are searching for car-pool partners rather than store- display dolls to trick police.
Two young Georgetown residents are offering their services to peeved drivers. For $55 per hour-long journey, Michael Burton and Kris Chaput say they will ride along in your vehicle. Their humorous online ad, which drew more than 500 visits overnight, says they are “great conversationalists and are willing to discuss current events, politics and the increasing income gap that will one day plague the world.”
As their work is in high demand, they also ask to be allowed to snack and “have a say in exactly 50 per cent of the playlist” while driving.
The Kijiji ad might look like on online joke, but the two friends say their offer is sincere.
“I would totally do it. I’m down for a really good story,” said Burton, 26, editor-in-chief of the York University newspaper, Excalibur. “It’s a funny story to tell friends, and I’ll try anything once.
“We’ll maybe have to drop the price down. People might think it’s not legitimate, ” he said. “Just wait until the Games start. The people of Toronto will think of the faces of Kris and I, and give us a shout.”
Chaput, also 26, who works full time in Mississauga, added that he and Burton had been in “a lot of funny situations before” and “it would be worth it, even if it was a negative experience.”
From 5 a.m. to 11p.m. every day until July 27, the Pan Am HOV lanes are reserved for media, athletes, Games-accredited vehicles, emergency vehicles, public transit, electric vehicles with green licence plates, airport limos (on highways), licensed taxis and vehicles carrying at least three people. Between July 28 and Aug. 18, during which time the Parapan Games will take place, vehicles with just two occupants will also be able to use HOV lanes.