re: Pregnant Dallas woman gets ticket for using HOV lane. Says her unborn child should count.

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Not at all. It’s a loophole that she found and should be allowed to exploit until the loophole is closed.

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Exactly. The HOV lane may be intended to reduce traffic but all the signs in Dallas say 2+ people. If her baby was in a car seat in the back she would be in compliance with the rules but the situation is exactly the same.

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By law, in order to use the high-occupancy vehicle lanes, drivers must have at least one passenger

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Is this really the only requirement listed in law? I would have thought it required another person with DL. I never thought having my kids in car allowed me to use HOV lanes.

she looks good doing that too.

You go to the court for the violation you were given. The judge can't create new violations.

And, by your standards, every pregnant driver would be guilty of reckless operation.

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SO how exactly are the cops supposed to tell they are pregnant in the HOV lane?

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really, we need an IVF lane

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If I was the magistrate:

So you are suggesting your unborn child meets the definition of a passenger in order to satisfy the HOV lane statute?

Yes.

Allowing a passenger to occupy the driver's seat with you meets the requirements of the reckless driving statute. Which will it be: reckless operation of a vehicle or an HOV violation?

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The magistrate doesn't have the authority to issue a reckless operation citation. So she should stick with the HOV violation.

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The state is defining what a person is.

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And the lady who got the ticket wants it redefined in the transportation code to match the penal code. If that were to happen that Obtuses hypothetical would then be reality.

You aren't making any sense.

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You go to the court for the violation you were given. The judge can't create new violations.

And, by your standards, every pregnant driver would be guilty of reckless operation.

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If the ticketing officer is there he/she can drop one and bring another charge. The magistrate would have to allow the accused time to properly prepare a defense for the new charge.

I didn't say it was my standard, just that I would use it to make the point or the difference between an unborn child and a passenger. It isn't in order to actually charge her with reckless driving which wouldn't stand. It is a novel approach to the law and should make the legislature act.

I have no real issue with extending the privilege of HOV lanes to pregnant women but it will make HOV lane enforcement almost impossible and you can expect a cavalcade of special interests groups looking for the same privilege (Vets, cops, firefighters, teachers etc).

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Sorry, but if an unborn child is a person, she had two people in her vehicle and met the requirements of the HOV lane for Texas law.

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Incorrect

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They need to change their law

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Why? You just said the law says she can do that, what needs to be changed?

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They need to change their law to read two seated people or however else they want it to read

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No they don't, because the transportation code doesn't define a person as a fetus