A mortuary driver who was riding in a Las Vegas carpool lane Monday asked the Highway Patrol trooper who had pulled him over if the corpse he had in the back of his van counted as a passenger, police said.

The bizarre traffic stop happened after a Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper noticed the driver of a hearse on Interstate 15 in Las Vegas appeared to be riding alone.

The driver, whose identity was not released, asked the trooper whether the body he was carrying in the back qualified as a person.

"He doesn't count?" the driver reportedly asked, referring to the corpse he was transporting.

“Yes, it’s a person, but they’re not in a seat and they’re not living and breathing,” the Trooper reportedly said. “This body was in the rear cargo and that doesn’t qualify as a seat.”

The trooper let the driver off with a warning and advised him to move out of the lane. The traffic stop came amid increased enforcement in carpool lane violations, Fox 5 reported.

GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Nevada Highway Patrol later issued a warning that passengers must be living, breathing people in order to be counted as occupants in cars using the high occupancy vehicle lane.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.