News from the nation’s capital has motorcycle and scooter enthusiasts in all 50 states cheering today, with both the Congressional House and Senate successfully passing the National Highway Safety and Freedom Protections Act (NHSFPA), which would legalize lane-splitting in the United States. The bill is expected to be signed into law by President Biden, as administration insiders have stated that a vetoing NHSFPA (pronounced Nee-Hiss-FPÜH) is highly unlikely.
The National Highway Safety and Freedom Protections Act has flown under the radar in the current political climate. Congressional insiders have cited that as a critical factor in its success, saying that it faced no opposition from either party in the House or Senate. Insiders also noted that the bill’s vague and mildly foreboding name led to many congressional leaders voting in favor of it without questioning its content, assuming that voting against it could come back to haunt them with a midterm election looming.
NHSFPA draws on California’s AB-51, which formally legalized and provided a broad definition of lane-splitting. However, the true intent of California’s AB-51 is to allow government agencies like the Department of the California Highway Patrol to create and teach lane-splitting guidelines. In the case of NHSFPA, lane-splitting guidelines will be developed by the Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board. DOT and NTSB leaders have released a public statement praising the early lane-splitting work done by the California Highway Patrol and that they’d be utilizing it through a complicated process known as “copy and paste.”
The benefits of lane-splitting can be researched here for those that do not live in enlightened states like Arizona, California, Montana, and Utah, which allow lane-splitting. When practiced in a controlled manner, lane-splitting reduces accident risk for motorcyclists and significantly reduces traffic congestion. If signed into law, NHSFPA would make lane-splitting legal across the entire nation, allowing the rest of the country to engage in a practice accepted in virtually every other country in the world without issue.
Brought forth by Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) early in the congressional season, Rounds said, “This bill means a lot to me as a native South Dakotan. The National Highways Safety and Freedom Protections Act will ensure that our freedoms will be protected on our nation’s highways, and that’s something that will always have my vote.”
The original wording of NHSFPA, which nearly mirrors AB-51, was conceived and promoted by lane-splitting advocate and ABATE of Colorado chapter leader Rusty Shackleford. Shackleford had this to say about the writing process of the bill: “Individual states have been slow to adopt lane-splitting laws, and it’s been clear that a federal solution was needed. We wanted to fast-track this bill, so we thought of a name that sounded incredibly important but didn’t specifically say what it was designed to do. Despite the original draft only being a single page in length, we copied and pasted the same information until it was long enough that no one could be bothered to read it. We needed congressional leaders to treat this as an Apple or Google end-user license agreement and just assume it was important because it had words like safety, freedom, and protection in the name.”
Other congressional leaders championed the National Highways Safety and Freedom Protections Act as a resounding success. During a short speech on the House floor, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 12th District) had this to say: “The passing of the National Highway Safety and Freedom Protections Act is a momentous occasion for the United States. It will bring new funding to our schools, police, and fire departments across the globe and help raise safety for all who traverse our nation in an automobile or motorized bicycle, as I’m told commoners do regularly. I must go now. My people need me.”
However, Congressional watchdogs say the NHSFPA has no mention of funding in any form, nor are there any references to funding for specific agencies. It strictly focuses on topics related to lane-splitting and has a photo-realistic drawing of a hotdog on page 118.
The bill faced a limited amount of controversy and did not escape being saddled down with what those in congressional circles refer to as “pork.” During the debate phase of NHSFPA, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA 34th District) demanded a reprieve for the nation’s garment manufacturers.
Gomez spoke out in the debate, making an impassioned, tear-filled speech where he said, “Things are hard in today’s market, specifically for those that make, sell, and buy extremely fashionable jean shorts. Jean shorts are fashionable and are worn by countless dads with New Balance shoes during cookouts. They’re tasteful, and jean shorts should never go past the knees. We can also tuck our shirts in, and it’s very formal, despite what all of you say.” His speech was met with uproarious applause, and members of the House chugged beers in approval, as is tradition.
To that end, NHSFPA also includes a single line that imposes a 24,000 percent tariff on imported jean shorts produced anywhere outside of the continental United States. This measure would effectively force American dads at barbeques to buy jean shorts made in the USA.
We will have more information regarding NHSFPA as this story develops, and be sure to read the publishing date of this article. Until this fictitious law passes, please only practice lane-splitting in states where it is legal, or move to said states because your state isn’t that cool, man.
