Safe driving and legal limits
Safe driving: make room for mistakes
Defensive driving is not timid driving. It is continuously creating time, space, and options for hazards you can see—and ones you cannot.
The space-cushion routine
- Look far ahead, then scan mirrors and the sides of the road.
- Keep a following interval appropriate to conditions; increase it for rain, snow, darkness, traffic, and large vehicles.
- Before braking, turning, or changing lanes: mirror, signal, shoulder-check, then move only when safe.
- Adjust speed to conditions even when you are below the posted maximum.
Colorado weather reality: ice can appear on bridges, overpasses, shaded spots, and at intersections. On slippery surfaces, reduce speed early, increase following distance, avoid abrupt inputs, and brake smoothly. Four-wheel drive helps traction; it does not shorten physics.
Never treat impairment as negotiable
Alcohol, cannabis, medications, fatigue, and distracted driving reduce perception and reaction time. The correct test answer is nearly always: do not drive impaired or distracted; arrange another ride or wait. Colorado has strict consequences for under-21 alcohol violations and prohibits handheld-phone use while driving except as specifically allowed by law.
Sharing the road
- Give motorcycles a full lane; check mirrors and blind spots carefully.
- Pass bicyclists only when safe, leaving legally required clearance.
- Never drive around a lowered railroad gate; stop and look/listen when required.
- Move over or slow down as law and conditions require for stopped emergency, tow, and maintenance vehicles.
What should you do when roads are icy?
Before changing lanes, the best sequence is: