According to Suffolk County Police, Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Spina was traveling near exit 51 at about 4 p.m. when he became suspicious of the front seat passenger in a 2002 Saturn sedan in the HOV lane.
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Officer Spina pulled over the vehicle.
He noticed that the driver, 34-year-old James Britt of Centereach, had placed a mannequin wearing a sweatshirt, sunglasses, hat and jeans into the front passenger seat along with water bottles, in an attempt to resemble a person.
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Britt was issued a summons for the HOV occupancy violations.
Similar cases have happened from time to time with police saying drivers deployed phony passengers ranging from mannequins to teddy bears.
In September 2016, a Seattle-area driver was even ticketed for carpooling with a cardboard cutout of then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
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(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)