A man driving a hearse was let off with a warning for driving in a carpool lane after saying he assumed a corpse would count as a passenger.

The vehicle was pulled over by Highway Patrol officers in Nevada who were patrolling use of the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane, which is reserved for vehicles carrying at least two people.

The driver, who has not been named, told the officer he had “a deceased in the back" after being asked why he was using the lane on Interstate 15 in Las Vegas.

The officer gave the man a warning and advised him not to use the lane in future, while Nevada Highway Patrol used the opportunity to remind motorists that only “living, breathing people" count as passengers.

It tweeted: “Today we stopped a local funereal home hearse in the HOV lane. The driver had the dearly departed in the back, he thought the deceased could be counted as two people.

“I guess we should clarify this, living, breathing people count for the HOV lane."

While the officers likely thought it was an amusing story, people weren't exactly laughing.

Yikes.