Motorcycle Safety Bill Requires Driver Ed Update: States Must Teach Awareness or Lose Federal Funding

The aptly named Motorcycle Safety Awareness Act of 2025 is pretty straightforward: it tightens the rules for states looking to grab federal grant money specifically earmarked for motorcycle safety. If you’ve ever been cut off by a car that “didn’t see you” while riding a bike or scooter, this bill is aimed squarely at changing that behavior through driver education.

The New Rulebook for Safety Grants

Currently, states have to meet two specific criteria from a list to qualify for federal motorcycle safety grants. This bill ups the ante, requiring states to meet three criteria instead of two. The kicker? One of those three must be a brand new requirement focused entirely on driver awareness training. Essentially, the federal government is saying, “If you want our safety cash, you have to prove you’re teaching drivers how to share the road.”

What Driver Education Must Now Cover

The new criterion added in Section 405(f)(3)(H) mandates that state-run driver education and safety courses must include specific instruction on motorcyclist awareness. This isn't just a quick mention; the training needs to cover two main areas. First, it must detail state-specific motorcycle laws, which includes potentially tricky topics like lane-splitting or lane-filtering, depending on what the state allows. Second, it must include share-the-road principles designed to actively increase car drivers’ awareness of motorcycles and scooters. For a young driver getting their license, this means the curriculum needs to drill home the fact that riders are harder to see and require more space.

Real-World Impact: Who Pays and Who Benefits?

For riders, this is a clear win. Better-informed drivers mean fewer accidents caused by the classic “I didn’t see them” excuse. If you’re a delivery driver on a scooter or a weekend cruiser, this mandated education should translate into safer commutes. For the states, however, this means an increased administrative lift. State motor vehicle agencies and educational departments will have to update their entire driver education curriculum to incorporate this new, specific training. While the goal is good, the Motorcycle Safety Awareness Act does increase the burden on states, and those that can’t pivot quickly might risk losing out on grant funding they currently rely on.

The Implementation Timeline

This isn't an immediate change. The bill states that these requirements take effect two years after the Act is enacted. This two-year grace period gives state agencies time to develop the new curriculum, train instructors, and implement the awareness modules into their existing driver education programs. Given that the bill is somewhat vague on what constitutes “specific instruction”—leaving it up to the states to define the depth and quality of the training—it will be crucial to watch how rigorously states interpret and apply this new requirement to ensure the training is effective and not just a quick, check-the-box exercise.