Colorado State Patrol answers questions from KRDO 13’s ‘Road Warrior’ viewers
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A state trooper recently spoke with KRDO 13's The Road Warrior regarding topics that several viewers have asked about.
Trooper Sherri Mendez, a public relations officer for the Colorado State Patrol, replied to questions about colored lights on vehicles and the status of the new lane filtering law for motorcycles in its first four months of existence.
Several viewers said that they are seeing more vehicles driving with a variety of light colors and wonder if that's legal.
Mendez said that Colorado -- as in most states -- allows lights on civilian vehicles to be white or amber in the front, and white, red or amber in the rear; some SUV's also have red or amber lights on the hood.
"Only emergency vehicles are allowed to have lights that are blue, green or other colors," she said. "I've never seen them on civilian vehicles personally, but I know that it happens. If troopers see it, they will make a traffic stop because those lights can be a distraction to other drivers. They may look cool, but they're illegal in the roads and offenders will be cited."
Mendez also responded to criticism that troopers aren't doing enough to pull over and cite drivers for a variety of other offenses -- such as cutting someone off, tailgating, flashing lights to communicate with other drivers or hogging the left lane.
"Of course, they will enforce the law," she explained. "But that being said, we can't be everywhere all the time and that's why we ask the public to go dial *CSP to report the driver so we can investigate further. And just so you know, you cannot make a report online. You have to make it through dispatch and talk to an actual trooper.
Mendez said that by dialing *CSP and speaking with a dispatcher, it increases the chances that troopers can quickly find offending drivers, pull them over and cite them.
The state's lane filtering law also generated several questions from viewers: They asked if it has reduced rear-end crashes and motorcycle emissions as promised by proponents of the law, and if riders are following the law.
"The State Patrol isn't involved in emissions," Mendez said. "Statistics aren't in yet regarding crashes and citations. But from what I've seen, the law seems to be working as intended."
She added, however, that she's heard of vehicle drivers opening their doors or driving closer to the left or right lane, in an attempt to keep motorcycles from passing them in stopped traffic.
"And that's very unfortunate because we're all here to share the roadway," Mendez said. "That's illegal for them to do. The driver can get charged. They can get charged with careless driving as well, or aggressive driving."
Again, the State Patrol asks that you dial *CSP to report this behavior if you see it.
Finally, Mendez said that there's no evidence yet of lane shifting causing an increase in lane splitting -- which is the illegal practice of riding between lanes of moving traffic.
