Driver Education Academy

Not Knowing the Law is Not an Excuse to Break the Law

Colorado has many traffic laws and each year in the month of July the new laws take effect. Not knowing the law is not an excuse to break the law. We can learn about new laws by way of the internet in this modern age. 

Colorado Revised Statues

C.R.S.

42-2-101 (3) No person shall drive any motor vehicle upon a highway in this state unless such person has in his or her immediate possession a current driver's license or an instruction permit issued by the department under this article.

42-4-107 Obedience to police officers. No person shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order of direction of any police officer.

42-4-233 Alteration of suspension system. (1) No person shall operate a motor vehicle of a type required to be registered under the laws of this state upon a public highway with either the rear or front suspension system altered or changed from the manufacturer's original design.

42-4-603 Obedience to official traffic control devices. (1) No driver shall disobey the instructions of any official traffic control device.

42-4-701 Vehicles approaching or entering the intersection. The vehicle on the left shall yield right of way to the vehicle on the right.

42-4-702 Vehicle turning left. Vehicle turning left shall yield right of way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.

42-4-801 Pedestrian obedience to traffic control devices and traffic regulations.

42-4-1005 Following to closely. Other than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic and the condition of the highway.

42-4-1101 Speed limits. No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions then existing.

42-4-1207 Opening and closing vehicle doors. No person shall open the door of a motor vehicle on the side available to moving traffic.

42-4-1401 Reckless Driving (1) Any person who drives any motor vehicle, bicycle or motorized bicycle in such a manner as to indicate either a wanton or willful disregard for the safety of person or property is guilty of reckless driving.

42-4-1402 Careless Driving.

 I have covered just a few of the laws in the state of Colorado for you. I started this with a story and will end it the same way. I didn't cover D.U.I. Law, but we all know about the D.U.I. Laws.

Over the years that I was a Police Officer I have heard the many reasons why a person should not be issued a ticket by the person who is receiving the ticket for a traffic infraction.

On a traffic stop one Traffic Officer had stopped a young lady for speeding.

The officer approached the drivers side door standing just behind the door and as the driver rolled down her window the officer asked for her drivers license, registration and proof of insurance. She was then given the reason for the traffic stop. The officer then began to write the ticket for speeding and when he had finished he explained the summons to her. She then looked at the officer and said, “ I thought that officers didn't write tickets to pretty girls.” As he began to turn and walk back to his police car he replied, “ We don't.” 

In Montana a state patrolman was driving on the highway when he observed a vehicle in the ditch on the side of the road and appeared to be stuck and with the weather below zero he decided to check the vehicle and called his dispatcher and informed them of his actions with the stalled vehicle.

As he approached the vehicle on the drivers side he observed a man slumped over the steering wheel of the car so he tapped on the window. The driver woke up looked up at the officer and put the vehicle in drive and hit the gas. The vehicle speedometer read 10, 20, 30 and then 50 as the officer looked in from the window, but the vehicle was stuck in the snow bank and not moving. The officer began to run in place and tapped on the window with his flashlight and yelled, “ Pull over.” The driver looked up and seen the officer and shook his head yes and turned the wheels to the right and stopped the car. The driver was arrested for D.U.I.. At the station he said, “ That cop is fast.”