Colorado motorcycle deaths increase in months following lane filtering legalization

CBS News

3 days ago

It was June 26. Tanya Walker was on the phone with her sister while driving southbound on Interstate 25 when she saw a motorcyclist in her rearview mirror.
"My heart sunk into my stomach," Tanya Walker said recounting a moment she says will stay with her forever. "This guy is going way too fast, lane splitting. He's weaving in and out of traffic. He's going to cause an accident."
"It's just a recipe for disaster," Walker said.
The motorcyclist caught up to her, passing in front of her vehicle before crashing.
"The bike hit the wall. They both flew off the bike. I felt helpless, worthless to be honest," Walker said.
According to court records, Jacob Blackman was driving over 120 miles per hour.
His passenger, 19-year-old McKenna Angelillo-Smith did not survive.
"I'll never get her back. I won't get to love her, and I won't get to see her get married, and I won't get to see her have children, and I won't get all these things," said Kristen Angelillo-Keezer, McKenna's mother.
"It was a stupid irresponsible mistake that was made," Kristen said. "If one person watches this story -- and its some kid who just got a motorcycle -- for the love of everything that's holy, just be careful. Take the responsibility of what you are being given seriously."
Across Colorado, motorcycle deaths are surging. In 2024, 165 riders died -- the most ever in the state.
According to Colorado State Patrol, in 84% of those deaths, the rider was found to be at fault. Forty-four percent were not wearing a helmet, and nearly half didn't have the necessary motorcycle license to operate.
"That tells me that we are choosing higher risks for this sport than we have skills," said Tiffany Maestas, the owner of Motorcycle Rider Training Center in Lakewood.
"Motorcycling is risky," Maestas said. "It's inherently risky, but it can be safe. We have control over 66% of the factors that come together and produce crashes."
Maestas' organization offers the courses needed for riders to get the legally required endorsement, and a better understanding of how to anticipate hazards, not just react when trouble hits.
"There's perception. There's reaction. There's identifying escape routes, identifying potential hazards, collision traps," Maestas said. "All those things need to be taken really seriously because we are on two wheels."
To help address the rise in motorcycle deaths, Colorado legalized lane filtering in August of last year, allowing motorcyclists to safely navigate through stopped traffic.
Maestas believes there's some confusion between lane filtering and the illegal practice of lane splitting.
"Both motorists and motorcyclists don't know the difference and don't execute it properly," Maestas said.
In the months since the law changed -- August 2024 through June 2025 -- CBS Colorado found there have been 137 motorcycle deaths, up from 108 during the same time the year before -- a nearly 27% increase.
"We don't have any information that directly addresses lane filtering, but what we do have is a connection in the numbers," said DJ Summers with Colorado's Common-Sense Institute, a nonpartisan research group.
Summers said their research found, while accidents increased, there's been a decline in low-level traffic enforcement opening the door for more speeding, fewer licenses and a drop in registration.
"Motorcycle deaths increased after lane filtering allowed," Summers said.
Their data suggests the dip in enforcement led to more risks on the road.
"Riders that shouldn't be on the road were," he added.
While data can't confirm what caused every accident in McKenna's case, the risks taken were clear.
"Your luck will run out. Unfortunately this time, something happened, and it cost me my child," Angelillo said.
Colorado State Patrol recently announced a relaunch of its educational campaign on lane filtering.
As part of the new law, CDOT is required to put together a report by 2027 comparing the data from before and after lane filtering was allowed, and the law is set to automatically expire that year.