Carpool Driver Caught with Elaborately Disguised Mannequin as Passenger

Two heads are better than one — and, absolutely necessary to ride in the carpool lane — but ya gotta make sure those heads are flesh and bone … and not plastic, like this one was.

One driver learned that lesson the hard way in Santa Fe Springs, CA — a suburb in L.A. County about 12 miles southeast of Downtown L.A. — when a California Highway Patrol officer pulled them over … and discovered a dressed-up mannequin in the passenger seat.

CHP Santa Fe Springs posted a pic of the plastic dummy Thursday to Instagram … and, we gotta hand it to the driver — it’s pretty dang lifelike, especially from a distance.

Not so much up close though … which is what the CHP officer noticed when he pulled them over. The driver got busted for crossing over solid double lines on the freeway … and when the officer took a closer look, he noticed the dude was actually in the car by himself.

The CHP account joked the mannequin’s goatee was a little TOO sharp — and warned others not to try the same trick … because perpetrators will be caught and punished.

Despite the good-natured ribbing, CHP says its officer hit the driver with multiple citations for the incident … so, probably not worth attempting to smuggle a mannequin out of Macy’s and into your vehicle, regardless of how convincing it may seem.