A woman who thought she could fool police into thinking her giant stuffed bear was a second passenger got a pricey wake up call.
Dipping into the lane restricted to two or more passengers, Scarlett Zibritovsky admits she went a little overboard trying to use the seat-belted bear to her advantage while driving through Portland, Oregon on Thursday.
'He was in the backseat for a little while but I thought it would make my car a little cuter if he was riding in the front with me,' she told KATU with a laugh. (
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But she admits that's not entirely how she thought she could put the bear named Zeff to use.
'I was going on camping trip trying to get home fast, I knew it wasnt the right thing to do, but I just got over and I thought you know, if I can get a couple cars behind me why not,' she said.
Unfortunately for her, she was quickly spotted.
'And I'm rolling by in my car driving and I turn and I see a motorcycle cop and I just have this huge smile on my face 'cause I'm like yep, I am getting a ticket right now.'
Ticketed for failure to obey a traffic control device, she's been fined $260.
Snapping a photo of herself immediately after while mourning the fine alongside her yellow friend, both Ms Zibritovsky and the bear pose around the ticket with their hands slapped against their faces. (
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'We got sad,' she said while describing that photo.
'Im a good Samaritan, I normally dont break the law,' she said.
Ms Zibritovsky said she had been riding around with the bear in her car for several months already, after cleaning out her closet and finding herself unsure of where the bear would go. She presumed a donation box, but said she hadnt found one just yet.
When asked if she thought she could actually get away with using the bear as a second passenger for the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane she answered: 'Yeah, in a way I did.
'I was driving in the HOV lane with a teddy bear you know. I thought I was going quick enough and it looked like a person.'
Stating her lesson learned, she said: 'Definitely learned not to fake a passenger with a huge teddy bear.'
She said she plans to go to court in hopes of reducing the fine.