Illegal lane splitting: what drivers need to know

A sight so many drivers seem to catch on camera is illegal in Colorado, and the reason for a fatal accident Thursday morning.

Lane splitting is when a motorcyclist cuts in between traffic by driving between the lanes. Videos in local Facebook pages show many drivers are quick to pick up their phones and capture the illegal act.

“We don’t permit that in Colorado,” said Frank Cowgill, the service manager at Rocky Mountain Cycle Plaza.

He’s a longtime motorcycle rider and says he hopes drivers look out for motorcyclists this Labor Day weekend.

“There’s going to be a lot of us out there, so that little bit of room and timing and so forth,” Cowgill adds, but continues to say motorcyclists need to watch out as well.

“If you all of a sudden show up in a spot at the wrong time, sometimes it can be the fault of the person actually moving there,” he says.

On Thursday morning, two people, identified Friday as Samantha and Justin Thomas, died after lane-splitting while heading East on Woodmen.

Mr. Thomas is assumed to be the driver. Colorado Springs police say he was speeding through the lanes before colliding with a Jeep turning left onto Vincent Drive.

The Colorado Department of Transportation reported 103 people died in motorcycle accidents in 2018.

Cowgill is hoping drivers keep that high numbers in the back of their minds as they hit the road this weekend.