Her fetus was riding shotgun

A pregnant woman in Arizona says she should be able to drive in the carpool lane.

Published December 16, 2005 4:34PM (EST)

Candace Dickinson, 23, of Ahwatukee Foothills, Ariz., has found a novel way to try to get out of a ticket, Feministing noted today. Busted for driving in the carpool lane without a passenger, the expectant mother is seeking to avoid the $390 fine by claiming that her fetus was her copilot, according to the the Arizona Republic.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety is not buying it. "I think we could all agree that for traffic enforcement, a person is another individual, not an unborn child," Frank Valenzuela, a spokesman for the department told the Arizona Republic. "I'm sure she's not claiming the child as a dependent on her taxes." Dickinson will get her day in court on Jan. 10 to argue that her fetus was a passenger. Broadsheet trusts that the antichoice forces will rally to Dickinson's side, and that next tax season they'll encourage all expectant mothers to claim their fetuses as dependents on their income taxes, too.


By Katharine Mieszkowski

Katharine Mieszkowski is a senior writer for Salon.

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