Trump administration removes bike lane safety guidance, sparking safety concerns

Transportation Secretary Faces Backlash Over Removal of Bike Lane Safety Guidance

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is drawing criticism for ordering the removal of federal guidance on bicycle lane safety, a move critics say prioritizes political optics over public safety.

Earlier this month, Duffy announced that the Trump administration would cut funding for so-called "DEI bike lanes," despite the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) previously urging agencies to consider installing bicycle lanes to improve road safety for all users.

Two days later, a staffer in the FHWA's safety office directed colleagues to remove that recommendation from the agency's website, NPR reported Thursday.

The FHWA had previously advised that "providing bicycle facilities can mitigate or prevent interactions, conflicts, and crashes between bicyclists and motor vehicles, and create a network of safer roadways for bicycling."

A Department of Transportation web staffer told NPR that employees were confused by the changes. "Why do you need to take down bicycle safety, of all things?" the person said. "We're not making the sites better, faster, or quicker, you know, able to provide real information to the communities that use these resources. It's asinine."

Broader Removal of Safety Materials

The removal of bicycle guidance is part of a wider effort to strip road safety materials from the department's website, including guidance on bike lanes and speed cameras.

Among the tools removed was the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT), designed to record detailed accounts of crashes involving bicycles, pedestrians, and motor vehicles to help prevent future incidents.

David Harkey, who helped develop PBCAT at the University of North Carolina's Highway Safety Research Center, emphasized the tool's importance in tracking pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities nationally.

"This is an agency that claims that safety is a priority for them," Harkey told NPR. "It's important that proven tools and resources like PBCAT are there on their site and are available for safety professionals across the country."

Department Defends Decision

A Department of Transportation spokesperson defended the move in a statement to NPR: "This is a common-sense approach, despite the Left's belief that everyone should ride a bike to their shoebox-sized apartment to eat crickets to achieve a phony climate agenda."

Secret Service Agent Suspended Over Suspected Leak About JD Vance

A Secret Service agent assigned to protect Vice President JD Vance has been placed on administrative leave amid concerns that he was leaking information to the press, CNN reported late Wednesday.

The action followed a detailed report by MS NOW that described Vance's Secret Service agents as "groused" and complained about the vice president's decision to use a military helicopter to transport his son to a golf lesson at Joint Base Andrews.

"Agents have shared concerns internally about Vance and his office pressing them for trips and assignments that some agents consider an inappropriate or even unprecedented use of government resources compared to prior vice presidents," MS NOW reported on July 15.

The Secret Service's internal affairs department is reviewing the agent's conduct. It remains unclear whether the agent will face administrative consequences or criminal charges, according to an internal source who spoke to CNN.

President Donald Trump has long been focused on internal criticism and media leaks, with some countermeasures during his first term testing the boundaries of the First Amendment—including reportedly considering wiretapping the Homeland Security Department.