We’ll work, for the fourth year in a row, to pass Colorado’s first “Hands-Free” or distracted driving bill; we’ll help introduce new legislation that will solidify your right-of-way in the bike lane, including through intersections; and we’ll fight legislation to ban automated enforcement technologies. We are also looking at legislative approaches to incentivize e-bike purchases, a statewide study of rail-trail opportunities, and ways to discourage hit and runs across Colorado. 

We’ll update this page regularly with information about the 2020 legislative session, so be sure to check back. And if you want to get involved now, be sure to visit the Bicycle Colorado Action Center and save the date for Safe Streets Day at the Capitol, Thursday, January 23, 202o.

Together, with a unified voice, we can make a difference and continue to make Colorado the best place to ride a bike!

We support reducing distracted driving

YES on Senate Bill 20-065, the hands-free driving bill

The latest: the bill was introduced in the senate on January 8 and assigned to the Transportation and Energy Committee

Bicycle Colorado is proud to support the hands-free driving bill, aimed at decreasing distracted driving throughout Colorado. Addressing this issue is critical to improving the safety of our roads for all users. We need your help!

This issue and bill relate directly to Coloradans’ health and safety. Data from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) indicates that 620 people died on Colorado roads in 2018 alone. Moreover, between 2012 and 2016, approximately 57,300 distracted-driving crashes occurred with an average of 40 distracted-distracted driving crashes occurring daily in 2016. Forty per day.

Current law prohibits the use of cellular phones while driving only for individuals who are under 18. This year’s hands-free bill:

• Extends the prohibition to drivers of all ages;
• Extends the existing prohibition of the use of wireless telephones to include all mobile electronic devices; and
• Establishes the penalties as $50 and 2 points for a first violation, $100 and 2 points for a second violation, and $200 and 4 points for a third or subsequent violation
• Creates an exception to the prohibition of the use of mobile electronic devices for drivers who use a mobile electronic device while a hands-free accessory is engaged; and
• Repeals a sentence enhancement for a violation that causes bodily injury or death.

We believe this bill is critical to improving the safety of all road users, especially vulnerable users such as bicyclists and pedestrians, and we are committed to seeing it pass through the legislature. After the bill is introduced, please reach out and let your legislators know that this bill is critical to addressing our state’s rising crash and fatality rates but more so, ensuring the safety of Coloradans and visitors who travel on our state’s roads.

We support a clearer right-of-way for bicyclists

YES on Senate Bill 20-061, the bike lane bill

The latest: the bill was introduced in the Senate on January 8 and assigned to the Judiciary Committee. 

Bicycle Colorado is proud to support the “Yield To Bicycles In Bicycle Lanes” bill.

This is an important right-of-way bill that will reinforce that bike lanes are a space where bicyclists are prioritized above those traveling via other modes. It creates a new traffic offense for failing to yield to a bicyclist in a bike lane and defines a bicycle lane in Colorado law. It also clarifies that bike lanes continue through intersections when there is a bike lane on either side of an intersection, even if there are no physical markings. It is sponsored by Senator Mike Foote, with whom we passed the Vulnerable Road User law in 2019.