Question: How does the
new law on minor drivers affect Students under 18 years old?
Beginning July 1, 2005,
regardless of when you got your license,
if you are under 18 you cannot drive a vehicle carrying a passenger under 21
unless you have held your driver license for at least
6 months.
And,
you cannot drive a vehicle carrying more than one passenger under 21 unless you
have held your driver license for at least
one year.
Exceptions
to carrying passengers:
·
If your parent or guardian is in the car with you, or
·
If there is an adult passenger in the vehicle, 21 years of age or older, who has
a valid license and has held a driver license for at least one year or
·
If the passenger under 21 needs emergency medical assistance, or
·If the passengers under 21 are members of your immediate family and they
are all wearing seatbelts.
So, if you
were issued your license on January 1, 2005, on July 1, 2005,
you would be able to carry only one passenger under 21 but no more than one
until
January 1, 2006,
unless you meet one of the exceptions above.
There are
also new restrictions on the time of day that you can drive. If you are
under 18 you cannot drive between the hours of 12 midnight
and 5
a.m. unless you have held your driver license for at least
one year
·
unless your parent or guardian is in the car with you, or
·
unless there is an adult passenger, 21 years of age or older, in the vehicle who
has a valid license and has held a driver license for at least one year, or
·unless you are driving to school or a school-authorized activity and the
school doesn't provide transportation. You will need a signed statement from the
school official showing the date of the activity, or
·
unless you are driving because of employment; you must carry a signed statement
from your employer verifying your employment, or
·
unless you are driving because of an emergency, or
·
unless you are an emancipated minor but your parent(s) or guardian(s) have not
canceled your license.
42-2-105.5.
Restrictions on minor
drivers
under seventeen years of age - penalties - legislative declaration
(1) The general assembly
finds, determines, and declares that:
(a) Teenage
drivers, in order to become safe and responsible drivers, need
behind-the-wheel driving experience before they can begin to drive without
restrictions;
(b) Providing additional
behind-the-wheel training with a parent, guardian, or other responsible adult
before obtaining a minor driver's license is the beginning of the young driver's
accumulation of experience;
(c) Once a teenage
driver begins to drive without a parent, guardian, or other responsible adult in
the vehicle, it is necessary to place restrictions on a teenage driver
who holds a minor driver's license until such driver turns seventeen years of
age in order to give that driver time to exercise good judgement in the
operation of a vehicle while keeping that driver, his or her passengers, and the
public safe;
(d) Penalties for the
violation of these restrictions on minor drivers under seventeen years of
age, including the assessment of points where they may not otherwise be
assessed, should be sufficient to ensure that chronic violations would result in
swift and severe repercussions to reinforce the importance of obeying the
driving laws in order to keep the minor driver, his or her passengers, and the
public safe.
(2) (a) No person under
seventeen years of age shall drive any motor vehicle between the hours of 12
midnight and 5 a.m. unless accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other
responsible adult as referenced in section 42-2-108 or unless driving to the
person's place of employment or from the person's place of employment to his or
her residence. A person who is under seventeen years of age and who is driving
to the person's place of employment or from the person's place of employment to
his or her residence between the hours of 12 midnight and 5 a.m. shall have in
his or her possession, in addition to a valid minor driver's license, a
statement signed by his or her employer or parent, guardian, or other
responsible adult stating the time that such person arrives at and leaves his or
her place of employment.
(b) A person under seventeen
years of age may drive between the hours of 12 midnight and 5 a.m. in the case
of a medical or other type of emergency.
(c) The curfew set forth in
this subsection (2) is not applicable in a city, county, or city and county that
has enacted its own curfew.
(3) Occupants in motor
vehicles driven by persons under seventeen years of age shall wear seat belts or
be secured in a child restraint system as required in section 42-4-236 (2) (a)
and pursuant to section 42-4-237.
(4) No more than one
passenger shall occupy the front seat of the motor vehicle driven by a person
under seventeen years of age, and the number of passengers in the back seat of
such vehicle shall not exceed the number of seat belts.
(5) Any person who violates
this section commits a class A traffic infraction.
Source: L. 99:
Entire section added, p. 1379, § 3, effective July 1.
Cross references: For
the legislative declaration contained in the 1999 act enacting this section, see
section 1 of chapter 334, Session Laws of Colorado 1999.
