{"id":26569,"date":"2024-07-19T19:44:59","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T19:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/motorcycle-injuries-and-deaths-on-the-rise-in-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:41:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:41:56","slug":"motorcycle-injuries-and-deaths-on-the-rise-in-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/motorcycle-injuries-and-deaths-on-the-rise-in-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorcycle injuries and deaths on the rise in Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A La Plata County Sheriff's Office deputy directs traffic around a motorcycle that crashed Thursday on U.S. Highway 160 at the Lake Durango intersection west of Durango. The motorcyclist was killed in the crash. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Motorcycle crashes and fatalities are on the rise this summer in Colorado.<\/p>\n

This year, 15.5% of the fatal crashes statewide have involved motorcycles, according to Colorado State Patrol. In the first two weeks of July, that statistic jumped to 37.5%.<\/p>\n

In 2022, motorcycle deaths reached an all-time high<\/a>, accounting for 20% of the state\u2019s total traffic deaths.<\/p>\n

Southwest Colorado is a hub for motorcyclists, which also makes it a hot spot for crashes. Colorado State Patrol District 5, which includes Southwest Colorado and much of the Western Slope, tracks several factors in crashes that involve serious injury or death.<\/p>\n

This year, CSP found that at least 72% of riders involved in regional crashes were from Colorado, 61% had an endorsement (a motorcycle specific license) and 55% wore a helmet.<\/p>\n

Riders over the age of 18 are not required to wear a helmet in Colorado, but they are required to obtain an endorsement in conjunction with their driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile a helmet is not in the law, it is encouraged,\u201d said Colorado State Patrol Capt. Angela DeGuelle.<\/p>\n

She encourages riders, even experienced riders, to take safety classes.<\/p>\n

Of the 18 regional crashes that have resulted in serious injury or death this year, seven occurred when a rider failed to negotiate a curve or a lane. In four of the crashes, the rider simply lost control of the vehicle as a result of high speeds or obstacles.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiding a motorcycle comes with greater risk than driving a car or truck due to the lack of safety features, including air bags and seat belts,\u201d said Colonel Matthew C. Packard, chief of the CSP, in a news release. \u201cRiders are simply more vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The State Patrol advises riders to be on the lookout for blind corners, narrow shoulders, switchbacks, debris, congestion, potholes and wildlife in their path of travel.<\/p>\n

The CSP\u2019s Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) program offers a variety of resources including safety courses and skill-rating maps to help motorcyclists plan safe routes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southwest Colorado, a hub for motorcycling, is a hot spot for crashes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-26569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79397,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26569\/revisions\/79397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26569"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=26569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}