A pregnant Texas woman who received a ticket in June - that was subsequently dismissed - for driving in a high occupancy vehicle lane received another ticket for the same offense, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pregnant-texas-woman-claiming-unborn-baby-hov-lane-hit-second-ticket-rcna45629">NBC News</a> reports. Brandy Bottone from Plano, Texas, made headlines after an incident which saw her stopped at a sheriff's checkpoint and ticketed for driving in the high occupancy vehicle lane. Per Texas' transportation code, there must be more than one person in a vehicle in order to use the lane. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq1VtGrO6qs]] Bottone, who was 34 weeks pregnant at the time, told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq1VtGrO6qs">CBS-DFW</a> she only entered the HOV lane because she was in a rush to pick up her son, recounting: "I noticed it was getting congested, and it's right where I can hop on the HOV. Bottone later said to <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/pregnant-woman-cited-for-hov-violation-says-her-unborn-baby-should-count-as-second-person/3010193/">NBC-Dallas Fort Worth</a>: "[The officer] starts peeking around. He's like, 'Is it just you?' And I said, 'No there's two of us?' And he said, 'Well where's the other person?' And I went, 'right here,' pointing to her stomach." But that didn't count, according to the police officer who pulled her over - as he believed that Bottone would require two people outside the body to meet the requirements of the HOV lane, per <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq1VtGrO6qs">CBS-DFW</a>. "And then I said, 'Well [I'm] not trying to throw a political mix here, but with everything going on [with Roe v. Wade], this counts as a baby,'" Bottone allegedly told the officer. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/CgmW1h6upds/]] The overturning of Roe v. Wade in June this year triggered multiple states across the USA to enact stricter laws on women's right to abortion. At the time, <a href="https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.1.htm">Texas' penal code</a> recognized an unborn baby as a person, stating the definition of a person as: "A human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth." The 32-year-old used this argument in defense of her $275 ticket. This is when the law became confusing - while the Texas penal code evidently recognizes a fetus as a person, the state's transportation laws don't. However, after taking the matter to a court, Bottone was able to receive a dismissal for the ticket. Now, though, it seems Bottone has received a second ticket for the same offence - apparently around a month after the original ticket. In a statement to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pregnant-texas-woman-claiming-unborn-baby-hov-lane-hit-second-ticket-rcna45629">NBC News</a>, an attorney's representative for the Dallas County District said: "Yes, Ms. Bottone's HOV case was dismissed. The defendant received a second HOV citation about a month after the first. This second citation is currently pending." [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf5bPIWM5G7/]] Bottone told <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/moms/pregnant-texas-woman-hov-lane-second-ticket-rcna45631?cid=sm_npd_td_tw_ma">TODAY</a> that she was issued the second ticket "the day before I went into labor on August 3. I was using the same route that I did previously and they had another checkpoint set up." "I was going to pick up my son from his father's house and they had a checkpoint set up," the mom told TODAY. "I was pulled aside and asked the same question. I stated, 'Yes, right here,'" she said, referring to her belly. "I hope that someone in a higher political position than me takes a stand on the issue of the laws not speaking together correctly and not projecting as a 'I want my cake and eat it too,'" she stated. <h6>Featured image credit: Anze Bizjan / Alamy</h6>

Pregnant Texas woman who claimed unborn baby counts as a passenger in the HOV lane was ticketed again

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