Diego was a model passenger, sitting quietly with seat belt buckled, never fidgeting. But it was the huge, unblinking eyes that made a Washington state trooper suspicious.

The state patrol says troopers were stationed Nov. 29 along an Interstate 405 onramp, pulling over people who were driving in the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane with only one person in the car. That's when the odd "passenger" drew one trooper's notice.

The patrol says the trooper stopped the car and found the driver had placed a stuffed Diego doll from the Nickelodeon children's show "Go, Diego, Go!" in the front passenger seat. The unidentified driver said he was late for work so he drove off with his daughter's doll so he could use the HOV lane.

The driver was cited for an HOV lane/ using without sufficient occupants violation.

I've been there. It's 7:30, I have to be at work by 8:00 and it takes me exactly 45 minutes to get there. Aside from having to do my hair and make-up during frequent traffic stops, wouldn't it be great if I could just bypass all the traffic and still have time to do any touch-ups in the powder room?

I've been so tempted to grab one of my niece's walking dolls (held over from a previous weekend visit) to use as a passenger just so I could use the "express" lanes. If you live anywhere where HOV lanes are used, you probably can also sympathize with this driver.

One solution to my dilemma was to join a carpool. First of all, it keeps me responsible and I find that I'm a lot more aware of how I manage my time. When other people factor in to your schedule, being late is no longer optional. Now I get myself up in time to accessorize.

Having passengers in the car also keeps me more alert and probably makes me a much safer driver. And, of course, you have to acknowledge the "green" aspect with less fuel emissions in the environment. But, the main benefit is being able to drive in the HOV lanes with no worries!

I probably would have died of embarrassment after being pulled over and ticketed for having a doll as a passenger. This was definitely one of those situations that "seemed like a good idea at the time."

")