The revised article on the KRDO website.
In the middle of last week I saw a piece by KRDO out of Colorado Springs titled “State Patrol says confusion over new motorcycle law leading to more crashes.” This was in reference to the recent law that allows filtering–not lane-splitting–on Colorado roads. The new headline is “Law enforcement says motorcycle crashes and deaths are up across the state.”
The information KRDO got from the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) was so bad I knew immediately I had to do a blog post about it. It turns out, it was so bad that going back to the article today I found that KRDO had revised the headline and inserted a three-paragraph editor’s note pointing out the original inaccuracies and clarifying the information. Good for you, KRDO. Bad on you CSP. KRDO also extensively revised the article, which makes me wish I had copied it down at the time because now I can’t quote you the really bad information that had been given.
When I had initially mentioned to Judy what the CSP had said she just shook her head and said “The State Patrol is just rewriting the legislation the way they think it should have been written.”
Essentially, KRDO quoted the CSP as saying that confusion on the filtering law has led to more crashes. It also said people mistakenly believed that filtering was allowed on highways, when actually it only applies to city streets. That particular statement is mind-boggling in how far off it is. In fact, KRDO said in the original article that nothing in the law differentiates between highways and city streets, but CSP was saying if they see people filtering on the highway, even if traffic is at a dead stop, they will issue citations.
Here are a couple of the clarifications:
At the time, CSP stated that confusion over the law was contributing to an increase in motorcycle crashes and fatalities this year. They have since clarified that there is no data linking the law to the rise in incidents.
Additionally, CSP initially told KRDO13 that it is illegal for motorcycles to pass cars in standstill highway traffic. We sought confirmation multiple times and were assured this was correct. CSP has now clarified that under the new law, motorcycles are permitted to pass vehicles at 15 mph or less when traffic is stopped on the highway.
Now, there’s no question that some motorcyclists are using this filtering law as a justification for doing things the law does not allow. I have more than once seen riders blasting between cars at speed on the highway. If the CSP nails them I won’t shed a tear.
But dang, CSP, how can you guys enforce this law when you don’t even seem to understand it?
Biker Quote for Today
Darkness will always be looming in the background, somewhere in the distance, just around the bend. But at least we can have faith in our motorcycles to keep us grounded, to give us courage and perspective, and to light the way in the face of our demons.
