Colorado Texting Law – What You Need To Know

Distracted driving has caused a tragic number of deaths in recent years, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reporting 3,477 deaths from distracted driving in 2015 alone. Sadly, as an auto body repair shop, we see first-hand some of the damage related to distracted driving. With the ever-increasing presence of smartphones in our daily lives, the number of people texting and driving has escalated to a terribly dangerous degree. In order to combat this, a new Colorado texting law has recently passed increasing the penalty for first-time offenders caught texting and driving. The law increases the fine from $50 and one point against your record to $300 and four points. That’s a pretty steep hike, and for good reason. Governor Hickenlooper, prior to signing the bill into law, had been outspoken about the need for fewer distracted drivers.

New Colorado Texting Law – How it Impacts You

Understanding the origination of the bill is an important part of knowing how it will impact you and the lives of others. The original bill was brought forward by victims of distracted driving accidents and their families and initially proposed a $500 fine. After some push and pull the $300 fine brought enough lawmakers on board to pass through the state House and Senate.

The new law hopes to act as a deterrent for potentially distracted drivers while also motivating police officers to pull over people who are texting and driving more frequently. The combination of these two things could mean several things for you. If you’re a habitual phone user, even while driving, it’s time to put down the screen and focus on the road.

If you’ve already sworn off phone usage on the road, this law is only good news for you. Under the new law, technically, drivers can text at red lights or while stopped in traffic if they are also paying attention to their surroundings. However, if a police officer is around and deems your texting, even at a red light or while stopped in traffic, to be careless, they have every right to pull you over and issue a ticket. And, remember that the Colorado texting law is not just about texting, per se. It is about distracted driving resulting from the smartphone. As a covered before, even fiddling with your phone to change music while driving can equate to distracted driving and therefore, you can be fined.

One of the biggest impacts this bill brings to drivers is the four points against your license, up from the previous one. If the financial impact of a $300 fine isn’t enough to get drivers off their phones, it’s worth considering that four points are 1/3 of the 12 points required to suspend your license. For that severe of an impact, phone usage and distracted driving are habits worth breaking.

Safety While Driving

The bill’s main goal is to increase safety on the roads and in the Denver metro area, a hub with increasingly dense population, safer roads are nothing to scoff at. Putting down the phone and focusing on the drive ahead of you could save your life and the lives of others, so this is one bill to take to heart.

How to Use this Information

Though the new texting law will hopefully keep more drivers safe on the roads, sometimes there’s just no avoiding an accident. If you find yourself facing the aftermath of a collision and don’t know where to go, Accurate Auto Body in Aurora has your back. Give us a call at 303-344-2212 or contact us online and we can get you road-ready again in no time.