Pregnant woman who fought a $215 fine for driving alone in carpool lane gives birth days after receiving another ticket: 'My second passenger has arrived'

Authored by yahoo.com and submitted by Havvocck2

A pregnant woman who challenged a $215 fine after driving in a carpool lane received a second citation.

She claimed that her unborn child should count as a passenger under Texas's abortion law.

She received a second citation before giving birth.

A pregnant woman who fought a $215 fine for driving alone in the carpool lane in Texas has given birth a month after receiving a second ticket.

"It was about a month after the first ticket that she was pulled over and ticketed again," Claire Crouch, a spokesperson from the Dallas District Attorney's office, told NPR.

Brandy Bottone, 32, who was 34 weeks into her pregnancy at the time of her first citation, was stopped by police in June for driving by herself in the carpool lane on her way to pick up her son, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Bottone argued with the officer that she hadn't violated any laws for driving in the carpool lane, claiming that because of Texas's abortion laws, the fetus she was carrying was considered a human and a passenger.

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"If a fetus is considered a life before birth, then why doesn't that count as a second passenger?" Bottone told the outlet.

Under Texas's six-week abortion ban, a fetus is considered to be a person when determining whether a crime is committed.

After hearing her case, a judge dismissed her first ticket, but in the following month of July, a then-pregnant Bottone was issued a second ticket for riding in the carpool lane by herself again, according to NPR.

Crouch told NPR that Bottone's second case is still pending. She announced in an Instagram post that she has given birth to a girl.

"My second passenger has arrived! We are so in love and will be spending all our time loving on baby girl," she wrote in the post.

Read the original article on Insider

GoodLuckBart on September 5th, 2022 at 16:40 UTC »

Dumb question, do minors count as passengers in a carpool/ HOV lane? We don’t have those where I live so I don’t know. I admire what this woman is doing, but couldn’t TX just pass a law that the carpool lane only applies to vehicles carrying 2+ adults? (That’s the purpose of the carpool lane, getting fewer adults to drive their personal vehicles alone)

zyzzogeton on September 5th, 2022 at 15:45 UTC »

She raises all kinds of good questions. Can you claim a dependent on your taxes if you have a miscarriage (Texas doesn't have income tax, but who gets to decide if you have a dependent on your federal?) Can airlines charge you for an extra ticket if you are visibly pregnant? Can a gym charge pregnant women for either an extra membership of for a child pass? Can 6 flags deny your unborn child from riding the ride?

Are you eligible for 9 months of back benefits of child support? Imagine if every divorced woman in Texas demanded an additional 9 months of payments. The number of divorces in the legislature alone would make them think again about how stupid this law is.

Dannysmartful on September 5th, 2022 at 14:47 UTC »

Contest by mail and show up in court.