Ticket Dismissed In Texas Pregnancy/HOV Lane Case

August 30, 2022 News, Politics

The Houston Chronicle reports:

A pregnant Dallas-area woman made national headlines after she argued last month that she was allowed to drive in the high-occupancy (HOV) lane because under Texas’ new abortion law her unborn baby counted as the second passenger—and the law may indeed be on her side. Brandy Bottone, 32, originally received a traffic citation for using the HOV lane while driving along U.S. Highway 75.

The County District Attorney’s office dismissed the citation earlier this month without a court hearing, stating: “Based on a review of the facts and circumstances of this case, and the applicable law, the state moves to dismiss the case.” However, Bottone has since received a second ticket for the same offense at roughly same location during a traffic stop earlier this month. Given that her ticket was dismissed, Bottone said she believed she could still drive in an HOV lane.

The Dallas Morning News reports:



The Texas legislature is set to clarify the issue of when a fetus counts as a person in its next session. “Nobody is answering whether it’s right or wrong,” Bottone, who has since given birth to a baby girl, told the Morning News.

“They dismissed it. Why do I have to change my belief? It doesn’t answer the question. Did I get it right or did I get it wrong?”

In a statement, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) spokesman Tony Hartzel told the newspaper that it doesn’t have the control to make decisions on “law enforcement or prosecution. decisions.”

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