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SALT LAKE CITY — A newly filed bill would classify pregnant women as two people and therefore allow them to use the HOV lane on Utah highways.
"It's woman friendly and mama friendly," said Sen. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine, who is sponsoring the legislation.
The bill, SB49, would also allow the dismissal of any traffic citations for riding alone if the person presents a physician's note on signed letterhead attesting to their pregnancy by the time of the ticket.
"The woman who's hustling off to a doctor's appointment or maybe even hustling off to the hospital to deliver her baby would have the opportunity to have the carpool lane usage without going through the formal registration process," Kennedy said.
Utah legislators will discuss the bill in the upcoming general session set to start on Tuesday.
Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, presented a similar bill last legislative session with Kennedy. Though it passed in the House, a Senate committee rejected it.
The main distinction between the two bills, Kennedy said, is that this bill requires proof of pregnancy while driving on the carpool lane and while challenging a ticket.
"I think the hopes are that we can be a mother friendly state, which I think most everybody would agree with that," Kennedy said, "especially ladies that are pregnant, and in that difficult circumstance, sometimes they need speed to get to their doctor's offices or to the hospital."
Other states have considered the same rule modification, including Texas, where a woman successfully contested a ticket for commuting alone in an HOV lane, drawing national attention. Her argument was that "under Texas' abortion law, a fetus is considered a live human being."
