The Truth About Colorado Drivers and Simple Road Laws

Colorado drivers take a ton of ridicule about their driving skills. Most blame new residents from California or Texas. Newcomers to the state blame the natives and their unique driving styles.

Why Are Coloradans So Bad at Driving?

I'll blame the Wild West mentality, we do things our way, and if you don't like it that's your problem.

Read More: Can You Drive an ATV on Colorado Roads + Streets?

I've also heard, whether it's true or not, that Coloradans don't need to take driver training. They just need to clock a certain number of hours behind the wheel and pass the written test. Again, not sure how true that is, but some of the blame can come from that.

We all know as a fact --or opinion we consider a fact-- that Californians are awful drivers. If you've ever driven through Cali, you've witnessed this firsthand.

Then you have Texans, much like Coloradans, who do things their own way and couldn't care less what you think.

I'm not a native Coloradan and I know, my opinion doesn't matter but I'll give it anyway. I come from Michigan, you know, the world's automobile capital and we consider ourselves superior drivers to the rest of the U.S. I'll say, that all the states mentioned above are horrible. I have, however, become accustomed to Colorado drivers.

What Are Some of the Laws Colorado Drivers Constantly Break?

I don't think we have the time to start this list. So, we'll just cover a few of my pet peeves on the road.

The one that really gets my panties in a bunch is people using the center turn lane as a merging lane. It's not legal (despite what you believe,) it's insanely dangerous, and people think they're entitled to be let into traffic when doing so. WRONG! It's not an entrance ramp, and you need to merge in when you're not going to slow the flow of traffic down.

Another is blowing through yellow lights at the last minute. Sure, you go through them when you don't have ample time to stop. You can't, however, race through at the last minute when the light turns red when you're in the middle of the intersection. You know all those accidents you see in the middle of the intersection? Yeah, this is how they happen.

Regardless, we'll never get drivers to follow all the laws. Most speed limits are too slow based on current vehicle capabilities. So, people are going to speed.

Roundabouts are confusing to most people, so those of us who know how to use them are going to bully the other people who don't and blow through the circle.

Scroll through the traffic laws you may not know exist in Colorado: