DENVER — Blocking a bike lane is now illegal in the state of Colorado.
While it was already illegal for drivers to block bike lanes (for the most part) in places like Denver, Boulder and Aurora, many municipalities across the state still had no punitive actions for doing so.
That’s where HB26-1237, or the Transportation Safety Modifications Act, comes into play.
Signed by Gov. Polis into law on Tuesday, HB26-137 prohibits any individual in Colorado from “stopping, standing, or parking a vehicle in any portion of a roadway designated as a bike lane.”
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Coloradans caught breaking the law will face a class B traffic infraction, which can carry a fine of up to $100, depending on the jurisdiction.
But that’s not the only provision included in the new law that aims to protect cyclists across the state.
HB26-1273 also updates state statutes related to vehicle or traffic collisions by replacing the term “accident” to “crash.”
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Cycling and transportation advocates say that specific change in wording is important because it shifts blame from victims to those potentially at fault, according to Skyler McKinley, who provided testimony about the importance of the wording in the law to the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee recently.
“When a plane crashes, we don’t call it an accident — because we demand answers, and we demand it doesn’t happen again,” McKinley said. “This bill asks Colorado to hold car crashes to the same standard. It’s a plane crash, not a plane accident. It’s a car crash, not a car accident.”
Denver7 has reached out to stakeholders to get their reaction about the new law. This story will be updated once we hear back.
