Nationwide, distracted driving causes thousands of accidents every year. Because of this legacy of carnage, every state including Colorado has enacted some restrictions on distracted driving. Keep in mind that in Colorado, the shoulder of the road is a perfectly legal place to text or use a cell phone if it is otherwise safe.
Distracted Driving Restrictions
In Colorado, the use of any cell phone is banned for drivers under 18 – even hands-free models are forbidden. While drivers 18 and older are entitled to use both hand-held and hands-free cell phones, texting is banned for all drivers. To cite you, the officer must have personally witnessed you texting.
Colorado law has carved out a number of exceptions to these restrictions, however. You may not be cited under Colorado’s distracted driving law for:
- reporting a fire;
- reporting an injury accident;
- reporting a major road hazard;
- reporting a medical emergency;
- reporting a hazardous materials situation; or
- reporting an unsafe driver
Unlike most states, Colorado imposes no special restrictions on school bus drivers. Other activities such as eating, drinking, shaving or even conversing with a passenger can support a distracted driving citation if they are dangerous under the circumstances. Distracted driving is a primary offense is Colorado, meaning that the officer doesn’t have to witness you committing another infraction in order to pull you over for distracted driving. Remember that local governments may enacted their own local distracted driving laws that are even more restrictive than the restrictions imposed by state law.
Penalties
The fine for a first offense of distracted driving is $50 plus a $6 “surcharge”, while the fine for second and further offenses is $100 plus a $6 surcharge. The court may impose court costs in addition to these amounts.
In the Event of an Accident
If you are involved in an accident while using an electronic device, the consequences could be far more serious than a citation, regardless of whether or not you are actually cited at the time of the accident. If a party to the accident sues you, your violation of the distracted driving statute can be used against you to prove that you were automatically negligent (“negligence per se” is the formal legal term). If you sue another party, your distracted riving can be used to prove that you were partly at fault for the accident.
To become liable, however, your distracted driving will have to have at least partially caused the accident. If the other party was also at fault for the accident, any damages you would otherwise owe him will be reduced in proportion to his own fault. If he was at least 50 percent at fault, you will owe him nothing, while if you were at least 50 percent at fault you cannot recover damages for the accident.
Criminal Penalties
If your behavior leading up to an accident amounted to “criminal negligence”, and if the accident resulted in serious injury or death to another, it might be possible for criminal charges to be filed against you. Under Colorado law, you are criminally negligent if your behavior represented a “gross deviation” from the reasonable standard of care exercised by a prudent person. There is no clear dividing line between civil negligence (which will render you liable for damages) and criminal negligence (which could land you in prison) – the dividing line is highly subjective.
– Updated through September 1, 2016