After a deadly year on Colorado mountain roads, Frisco lawmaker’s bill raising penalties for reckless driving heads to governor

A bill that would increase penalties for reckless driving passed at the Colorado Capitol on Wednesday, May 13, the final day of the 2026 legislative session. 

The measure, Senate Bill 35, was championed by Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, and comes in response to a slew of deadly crashes that plagued communities in his mountain district last year. 

“Every year, too many Coloradans are killed or seriously injured in crashes that are 100% preventable, often involving speeding or dangerous passing behaviors that risk everyone else on the road,” Roberts said during a February Senate committee hearing on the bill. 

In 2025, Grand County officials recorded the deadliest year in a decade on county roadways, with 11 deaths and 24 people seriously injured due to vehicle collisions. 

That included a family of five who were killed in August in a head-on collision south of Kremmling. The family died after the driver of a Ford F-150 truck, who was heading northbound, drove into the southbound lane and struck their vehicle, according to officials. 

Other stretches of mountain roads, such as Highway 40 between Steamboat Springs and Craig, also remain a hotspot for collisions, with over 400 crashes recorded between 2021 and 2024. Colorado saw a slight increase in traffic deaths in 2025, with 701 people killed on roadways, up from 689 the year prior, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. 

Roberts’ bill would double the points issued against a driver’s license from four to eight for passing on a solid yellow or double-solid yellow line, which is considered a no-passing line. It would also require drivers who have multiple speeding violations to appear in court to settle their fines.

Drivers age 21 and older can have their licenses suspended after accumulating 12 or more points within a year, or after 18 points within two years. Younger drivers face lower thresholds. Drivers aged 18-20 can face license suspension for accumulating anywhere from nine to 14 points, depending on the timeline, while drivers under the age of 18 can see their license suspended after racking up six points over a year.

Other provisions of Roberts’ bill include increasing points for repeat speeding violations. Drivers who face two speeding tickets in one year would receive two points on their licenses. They would face four points for three or more violations in a two-year period, and eight points for five or more violations within a five-year period. The bill would also impose a four-point license penalty for drivers who are ticketed going 100 mph or more, regardless of the speed limit.

Finally, the bill directs the state transportation department to expand signage around designated passing zones in a bid to reduce confusion and increase driver awareness. 

While the bill cleared the Senate by a wide margin — the final vote on Wednesday was 32-3 — it faced a much closer vote in the House, with more liberal-leaning Democrats joining the majority of Republicans in voting against the measure. Those lawmakers believed the bill was too punitive. 

Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Boulder, said the bill’s license point penalties could have an outsized impact on young drivers who have a much lower point threshold for when their license is temporarily revoked. 

“This particular policy, as written, is not going to lead to any changed behavior,” Joseph said. “You’re just going to have young people driving without a license, or, if you’re a working person and your license gets pulled because of this particular bill, you’re just going to drive without a driver’s license, and we don’t want that.” 

Rep. Rebecca Keltie, R-Colorado Springs, said the bill does not give any latitude to drivers who may need to pass in a no-passing lane, such as for emergency medical situations. 

“If you’re looking at a life and death situation and you’ve got two lines, you’re not going to pass to get around someone who is going much slower just to save the life of your loved one?” Keltie said. “It doesn’t carve out anything for that. It gives no leeway, it gives no mercy in any way, shape, or form.”  

The bill passed the House in a 35-30 vote. It now goes to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk.