Ontario Provincial Police
Const. Michael Fathi reassured the driver he’d pulled over on Highway 417 near Terry Fox Drive on Thursday that he had nothing against cats.
“
While we all love our pets,” Fathi said in an email to the Citizen.
“They unfortunately do not count towards having a second person in the car with you!”
“I have two cats and a dog (and) I don’t get to use the HOV lane.”
When he first observed the vehicle on the wide open highway shortly before noon Thursday, the tabby cat was sitting on the driver’s shoulder and hanging partially over the back seat.
“Not ideal really,” he said.
Fathi, who is also media relations officer with the OPP’s Ottawa detachment, noted the road was wide open, “so there was no need to drive in the HOV lane” in the first place.
The province implemented HOV lanes that can only be used by vehicles carrying two or more people to encourage carpooling and easing congestion on heavily used highways.
While the driver, under 30 years old,
mistakenly believed that because she had her cat with her, she could use the HOV lane, the rules are there for a reason.
She received a $110 fine and three demerit points for the violation.
