Utah Senate committee hits the brakes on letting pregnant mothers into carpool lanes
Traffic Jam
By Benjamin Wood @BjaminWood
A bill to count pregnant mothers as two vehicle occupants for the purpose of carpool lane enforcement appeared to hit a dead end on Monday after failing to advance out of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George, joined with the committee's Democratic members in a 3-2 vote opposing the legislation, HB256. He said there's likely no one more pro-life than him, but he objected to tasking law enforcement with determining which women are or are not pregnant, and said the bill could put Utah at risk of losing federal highway funding.
"We’re asking the highway patrol to do the impossible to try and enforce this," Ipson said.
Currently, a vehicle must contain at least a driver and one passenger in order to qualify as "high-occupancy" and gain access to Utah's carpool lanes. Drivers are also able to purchase express passes and legally use HOV lanes when alone.
Federal highway guidelines state that a developing fetus is not to be counted as a vehicle occupant. But Rep. Stephanie Gricius—the HB256's sponsor—said her bill circumvents that issue by instead counting a pregnant woman as two people.
She said her proposal is "life-affirming," and supports what she expects will be an increasing number of pregnant women as Utah further restrictions abortion access in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe vs. Wade. And she pushed back on suggestions that her bill would dilute the purpose of HOV lanes—encouraging shared trips, reducing congestion and air pollution and generating revenue through tolls—by noting that women are already able to drive in the carpool lane when accompanied by a newborn child.
"If a baby counts on the way home from the hospital then you’re not taking any cars off the road," Gricius said.
HB256 took a glide path through the House, earning committee approval in a 6-3 vote before passing the full chamber 49-23. While the bill could still be reconsidered by the Senate Transportation Committee—or lifted to the Senate floor without a committee recommendation—Ipson's vote of opposition and its failure to clear the transportation panel significantly lower its likelihood of passage.
About The Author
Benjamin Wood
Lifelong Utahn Benjamin Wood has worn the mantle of City Weekly's news editor since 2021. He studied journalism at Utah State University and previously wrote for The Salt Lake Tribune, the Deseret News and Entertainment Weekly
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