6 days ago
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A politician in Texas, in the United States, has proposed a new bill that would allow pregnant drivers to use a carpool lane with no other passengers. However, the bill has inspired some backlash online.
Republican State Representative Briscoe Cain filed HB 437, which states that pregnant drivers will be allowed to use the high-occupancy (HOV) lane (carpool lane) even if there are no other occupants in the car.
"An operator of a motor vehicle who is pregnant is entitled to use any high occupancy vehicle lane in this state regardless of whether the vehicle is occupied by a passenger other than the operator's unborn child," said the bill to be entitled.
"This Act takes effect September 1, 2025."
As is the case for T2 lanes in Australia, Texas drivers must have at least two or more occupants in the car to make use of HOV lanes.
Texas is a pro-life state, which means that abortions are illegal in nearly all circumstances because the Penal Code says that an unborn child is considered a person regardless of what stage of pregnancy it is at.
Texas isn't even the first state in the US to propose a change to the law surrounding the carpool lanes. Georgia, which has ever-changing abortion laws but ultimately considers a foetus a person, opened its carpool lanes to pregnant drivers in 2022 after the term "living and not pre-infant" was removed from the requirements.
The proposed bill for Texan roads received a lot of negativity on Reddit, with some calling out its hypocrisy.
"So, following that logic if the woman goes to a buffet restaurant, should she pay for her meal and the child's meal? After all, like they said, she's eating for two," said one user.
"How would this even work? Like how would they know we are pregnant or not? Oh, I guess they could have all women register our menstrual cycles with the state... yeah, I don't trust this," said another.
"By that logic, can we claim the dependent? I want a tax benefit too," further joked one commenter.
Australian transit lane laws
Australian Road Rules define two different types of transit lanes: T2, which is for a car with one or more passengers; and T3, which is for drivers with two or more passengers.
Australian Road Rule Regulation 156 specifically states the following, which is a national standard: "A driver must not drive in a transit lane unless the driver is driving: a public bus, public minibus, motorbike, taxi or tram; or if the transit lane sign applying to the transit lane is a transit lane (T2) sign—a vehicle carrying at least 1 other person; or if the transit lane sign applying to the transit lane is a transit lane (T3) sign—a vehicle carrying at least 2 other people; or the driver is permitted to drive in the transit lane under rule 158".
Rule 158 protects drivers from a fine if they must use the transit lane to enter or exit the road they are travelling on or need to pull over to the shoulder. The permitted distance for this kind of travel in a transit lane is 100 metres.
The fines for incorrect use of a transit lane in Australia are as follows:
Should pregnant drivers be allowed to use transit lanes?
Transit lanes were introduced to encourage carpooling, cutting down on the number of cars on the road by offering a less congested lane for those who take their colleagues to and from the office.
That's the core reason for the introduction of the rule. The reality is that regardless of your political stance or beliefs, a pregnant person using the carpool lane isn't exactly easing congestion as intended.
Additionally, Australia uses automated cameras to fine those disobeying transit lane laws, and it would be a nightmare for pregnant drivers to contest automated fines every time they use a transit lane.
What do you think? Should pregnant people be entitled to use the transit lane? Let us know in our poll below.
Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.
