CDOT Launches Campaign REminding Drivers to Lookout for Motorcycles

Motorcycle deaths down 18% this year after record number in 2020

STATEWIDE – Following the deadliest year on record for motorcycle riders, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is launching a new campaign, Some Things are Hard to See. Launching today, the campaign recognizes that motorcycles are much smaller than cars and can be difficult to see. Often while turning left at an intersection drivers miss seeing a motorcycle, which results in a “t-bone” crash.

“Every one of these motorcycle crashes could have been prevented,” said CDOT’s Office of Transportation Safety Director Darrell Lingk. “Taking a moment to check blind spots and using extra caution when pulling into an intersection can be the difference between life and death for a motorcyclist.”

Last year a record 140 motorcyclists were killed on Colorado roads. Although motorcycles are only 3 percent of the registered vehicles in the state, motorcycle fatalities were 23 percent of the 622 total traffic fatalities in 2020.  Most motorcycle fatalities took place in El Paso County (26) followed by Jefferson County (15).

“It takes just a moment to carefully check your surroundings,” said Justina Carney, who failed to see a motorcycle as she switched lanes on I-70 resulting in the death of the rider. “Your mirrors can miss blind spots so be extra careful. This was a horrible crash that will live with me for the rest of my life.”

To date in 2021, there have been 59 motorcycle fatalities on Colorado roadways.