Connoisseurs of multitasking – particularly the mobile variety – may want to take note: Colorado’s distracted driving laws are getting a bit stricter on Jan. 1.
A law passed by the state Legislature last session takes effect in the New Year. It expands the current law, which bans texting while driving, to include holding a cellphone at all.
Talking on speaker phone with a device in hand will no longer be allowed. And that’s something Durango Police Department Officer Jessie Heerdt sees quite a bit, she said.
“I pulled over a lady the other day who just completely went through a red light (while) talking on the phone – wasn’t texting or anything, but talking on a phone and just completely missed that she ran a red light,” Heerdt said.
Drivers are still allowed to use hands-free devices for navigation and phone calls, so long as the phone is not in their hand or pinned between their head and their shoulder.
Like the current texting ban, the new law makes cellphone use a secondary offense. That means law enforcement can only cite someone for using a phone if they observe the driver is using the device in a manner that caused them to drive carelessly.
Under Colorado law, careless driving is described as driving “without due regard for the width, grade, curves, corners, traffic and use of the streets and highways and all other attendant circumstances.”
“Say, on a four-lane road and you’re pulling beside someone, and you see them looking at their phone and they start drifting over into your lane,” said Colorado State patrol Capt. Angela DeGuelle. “That’s what we’re looking for, things that make it unsafe.”
According to the Colorado Department of Transportation’s 2024 Driving Behavior Study, about two-thirds of drivers said they talked on the phone hands-free in the last seven days, and 42% said they picked up the phone to make or receive a call.
The study also found that 77% of drivers indicated they used their phone while driving, and about half of those said that hands-free features would get them to stop.
In the 18 to 25 year-old age group, 38% of those who used their phones said that seeing people get tickets for using their phone while driving would get them to stop, although overall only 19% of phone-using drivers said a law against the practice would get them to stop.
The language of the new law speaks to several of those results.
Not only may drivers caught using their phones be subject to escalating fines upon each successive violation, but the first fine will be dismissed by a judge if the offender turns in proof that they purchased a hands-free device.
More than likely, no, just holding a phone would not be enough to get pulled over, DeGuelle said. You have to be holding your phone and driving in a careless and imprudent manner. But the two tend to go hand-in-hand.
People tend to drive where they’re looking, DeGuelle said, and if they’re looking down at their phone, they often end up crossing lane dividing lines, following other vehicles too closely, failing to obey the speed limit or doing something else that would be considered careless and imprudent.
First-time offenders can be hit with a $75 fine. That doubles to $150 the second time they get caught on your phone while driving in a period of two years. It goes up to $250 for a third offense. Each fine carries a $10 surcharge and the respective assignment of two, three or four DMV points on a driver’s license.
Failure to use a hands-free system carries a lesser penalty than texting while driving.
However, because careless driving is the primary reason for the stop, a driver cited for failure to observe the hands-free law can also face a careless driving charge, per the discretion of the law enforcement officer. That charge, a class 2 traffic misdemeanor, is punishable by a minimum sentence of 10 days in jail or a $150 fine, or both, and a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail or a $300 fine, or both.
A first-time offender will have the hands-free charge dismissed if they produce proof that they purchased a hands-free accessory.
Although you may not hold your phone while navigating, talking on the phone or viewing content, you may briefly make contact to use a hands-free device. The law states that a driver may “activate, deactivate, or initiate the feature of function with a single touch or single swipe.”
Almost. You can wear a single earbud, or a device that otherwise covers no more than the entirety of one ear. Watching a video is still not allowed.
According to CDOT, the law still applies when stopped at a light. And it’s true, the law doesn’t get suspended just because traffic stopped moving. But it’s also unclear how someone would commit the requisite act of careless driving while stationary. That said, it’s probably best not to try.
Yes. In addition to handheld radios, dictating to a voice-activated virtual assistant is allowed. The law also carves out exceptions for people contacting public safety entities, such as calling 911; an employee or contractor of a utility is acting in their job capacity and responding to a utility emergency; when a code enforcement, animal protection officer or other first responder is performing official job duties.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
