DALLAS — Editor's note: The video above is from a report on July 10, 2022.
The July 20 traffic court hearing for the pregnant Plano woman fighting a ticket for driving in the HOV lane has been postponed.
The reason for this, court records show, is her court hearing has been moved off the general populate docket and onto an attorney's docket, meaning she hired an attorney for her case.
The woman, Brandy Bottone, said it could take between two and six months for her to get a hearing.
Bottone was pulled over early in July when she alone took the high occupancy vehicle lane, or HOV lane, on Central Expressway in Dallas County.
She felt it was right to think the child she's carrying is a passenger in a lane designed for vehicles with two or more passengers.
Bottone of Plano tells WFAA that in the moment she wasn't trying to take a stand but only trying to fight a ticket. For context Roe v. Wade had just been overturned several days before, and Texas has an impending ban on abortions.
"One law is saying that this is a baby and now he's telling me this baby that's jabbing my ribs is not a baby. Why can't it all make sense?" she posed rhetorically.
The officer wasn't buying her explanation, and she was handed a $275 ticket for an HOV violation.
The Texas Department of Transportation's online description of the HOV rule isn't entirely clear. It reads simply, "A vehicle occupied by two or more people."
Even the officer admitted she could fight the ticket and hundreds, even thousands, of people on social media feel that, too.