STONY RIDGE, Ohio – Sure, the deputy sitting in a cruiser waiting for speeders is a dummy, but he’s smarter than the drivers who slow down when they see him.

To combat speeding, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn put a mannequin in a patrol car along a busy road just outside Toledo.

From a distance, the deputy dressed in uniform looks real enough.

“When people come around the hill and they see the car, they put on the breaks,” Wasylyshyn said.

It even fooled drivers who go by every day.

“The first time I came down here I had no clue it was a decoy, and I kept wondering how come that cop never changes positions,” said John Bembenek, who lives in the village.