Plano mom Brandy Bottone says unborn baby counts as passenger in HOV
PLANO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - A Plano mother who said her unborn child should count as a passenger in the HOV lane did a ride along with CBS 11 and shared more of her story.
Brandy Bottone's experience continues to go viral, and now she said she plans on fighting the $275 ticket.
Bottone said when she was in rush to go pick up her son she thought of every scenario possible to get there quick.
"I noticed it was getting congested and it was right where I could hop on, HOV and I was like, I saw the sign where it says HOV 2, and one, two, and so I hopped in there," Bottone said.
Then she hit a checkpoint while driving on US-75 South and ran into Dallas County Sheriff's deputies.
"He asked the question of is there somebody else in the car and I said 'Well yeah...' and he started peeking around, and said where," Bottone said.
Bottone is about 34-weeks pregnant and referenced baby, something she felt comfortable doing following the surprise court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
She said the deputy disagreed with her, stating her vehicle needs to have two people outside her body.
Since then, her story has gone viral. She says even people from out of the country have been reaching out.
"I remember waking up to gosh, thousands of messages on social media and that's when I was like what is going on," Bottone said.
In October of 2021, State Rep. Briscoe Cain filed House Bill 153. The bill would allow a pregnant woman to drive in the HOV lane whether there is another passenger or not.
After hearing Bottone's story, the lawmaker tweeted, "This is why I introduced HB 153 during the 3rd Special Session last year."
Meanwhile Bottone said she's received tons of messages from people all over the world, some supporting her actions and others criticizing her.
Bottone said for her this was never about politics.
"A right or wrong situation and I have kids, and you teach them lessons of right or wrong all the time and that's it," Bottone said. "I was just trying to clarify was I really in the right or was I really in the wrong."
Bottone will be in court next week, meanwhile she said her due date for the baby is August 3.
