Before You Drive, Basic Driving, Traffic Signals, Pavement Markings and Lane Controls: Vision, Hearing and the Earphone Rule, Fatigue, Health, Emotions and Distractions, Vehicle Checks and Mirror Adjustment, Starting, Stopping, Hand Position and Backing, Every Light and Arrow, HAWK Signals, Dark Signals, Yellow and White Lines, Green Paint, Sharrows, Crosswalks and Conflict Zones, Restricted, Bike, Transit, HOV and Reversible Lanes, Roundabouts, the Two-Way Left-Turn Lane and the Diverging Diamond

Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Colorado driving knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.

Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (Colorado DMV, DR 2337, December 2024 edition), "Before You Drive", "Basic Driving", "Traffic Controls", "Traffic Signals", "Pavement Markings" and "Lane Controls" (pages 5–11).

Being fit to drive

Safe driving needs clear sight, rest, sobriety, health and emotional fitness, and all your senses tuned to weather, light, horns, sirens and shouts. Have your eyes checked every year or two, and wear your lenses if your license has a corrective-lens restriction. Hearing can fade slowly with age or noise, so have it tested if you suspect a decline, and remember that you may not drive wearing earphones, meaning any headset covering all or part of both ears; hearing aids, cochlear implants, helmet speakers and one-ear devices connected wirelessly are allowed. Fatigue cuts reactions and judgment: break long drives into two-hour segments and pull off to rest if drowsy. Colds, infections, a stiff neck or a sore leg affect driving, and epilepsy, diabetes and heart conditions may make it unsafe; ask your doctor. Do not drive when worried, excited, afraid or angry, and never give in to road rage. Distractions are the leading cause of driver error: set your seat, mirrors, radio and temperature and secure loose objects before starting, make sure children are restrained, and pull over to deal with phones, passengers or anything urgent rather than rubbernecking.

Your vehicle

You are responsible for the vehicle being safe; a poorly kept one costs more, can break down or crash, and can earn a citation. Have brakes checked at once if they feel wrong; keep signals, brake lights, taillights and headlights working; replace damaged windshield glass and worn wiper blades, keep the washer tank full and clear snow, ice and frost from all windows. Worn tires lengthen stops, hinder turning, invite hydroplaning and flats; unbalanced wheels and low pressure wear tires, waste fuel and make steering and stopping harder, so have bouncing, shaking or pulling checked. Hard steering, excessive bouncing (worn shocks), exhaust leaks (deadly fumes; never run the engine in a garage or sit in a closed car with it running), a poorly tuned engine and the horn all need attention. Adjust the driver's mirror with your head against the left window so you barely see the car's side, and the passenger mirror with your head centered under the inside mirror. Keep the rear shelf and floor free of objects that could fly or roll under the pedals, and set the head restraint to touch the back of your head.

Basic driving

Start with your right foot on the brake and check the warning lights. Look for a safe path, check traffic and pedestrians to the sides and behind, signal, and press the accelerator gently with the ball of your foot, heel on the floor. To stop, check the mirrors, move to the brake and press steadily. Turn the wheel in the direction you want to go, forward or in reverse. Hold the wheel on the outside at 3 and 9 or 4 and 8 o'clock, firmly but gently, fingers rather than palms, thumbs up along the rim, and never grip the inside of the wheel. To back up, check behind the car before getting in (children and small objects are invisible from the seat), foot on the brake, shift to reverse, left hand at 12 o'clock, right arm over the passenger seat, look directly over your shoulder through the rear window, use mirrors and camera as extras only (mirrors miss the area right behind you), accelerate slowly, steer slightly toward where the rear should go, glance front and sides when turning, and keep looking back until fully stopped.

Traffic controls and signals

Traffic controls are signals, signs and markings, plus directions from law enforcement, highway personnel and school crossing guards, which you must obey. Signals are red, yellow and green from top to bottom, with single lights at some locations; if a signal is dark or malfunctioning, treat the intersection as a four-way stop.

• Steady red: stop until green. After stopping and yielding to pedestrians and traffic, and unless a sign forbids it, you may turn right on red, and left on red from a one-way street onto another one-way street.
• Steady yellow: red is coming; stop unless you are already in the intersection.
• Steady green: after yielding to anyone in the intersection or the adjacent crosswalk, go straight or turn unless a sign prohibits the turn.
• Red arrow: stop; no turning in that direction.
• Green arrow: alone or with another light, turn in the arrow's direction; if the arrow goes out but the circular green stays on, you may still turn after yielding to through traffic and pedestrians unless a sign or red arrow prohibits it.
• Yellow arrow: a red arrow is about to appear; stop unless already in the intersection.
• Flashing yellow arrow: a left-turning driver may proceed with caution after yielding to oncoming traffic and pedestrians, never rushing; it then turns solid yellow, then red.
• Flashing red: the same as a stop sign; stop, then go after yielding.
• Flashing yellow: a hazard warning; slow and proceed with caution.
• HAWK (High Intensity Activated Crosswalk) signals flash a yellow-red sequence to tell drivers that pedestrians need to cross.

Pavement markings

Lines divide lanes, show where passing and lane changes are allowed, mark turn lanes, crosswalks and stop points. Yellow lines separate opposing traffic: a broken yellow line allows passing; a solid yellow line and double solid yellow lines forbid it, except to pass a bicyclist with at least three feet of space when the oncoming lane is clear; with a solid and broken pair you may pass only when the broken line is on your side, and you must be back before the line turns solid. You may cross a solid yellow line to turn left into an alley, private road or driveway, or to pass a bicyclist with three feet, when safe. White lines separate same-direction lanes: broken means you may change lanes when safe, solid means stay in your lane, and a solid white line also marks the shoulder. Green paint marks a lane or area for bicyclists. Sharrows (shared-lane arrows) say the lane may be too narrow for a car and bike side by side, and bicyclists may ride in its center. A crosswalk, marked or unmarked, is where pedestrians have the right-of-way; slow or stop for anyone crossing in it, and when a vehicle ahead is stopped at a crosswalk, never pass it; stop behind it, or behind the crosswalk in the next lane. Conflict zones are broken lines in a bike or bus lane warning that drivers and riders will cross paths.

Lane controls

Drive on the right half of the road, in one lane, never straddling. Without marked lanes, drive just right of center, off the shoulder, with the usual passing and turning rules. Restricted lanes carry a white diamond on the pavement and a sign stating their use, such as transit or bicycles. Bike lanes belong to bicyclists, who have the right-of-way in them; drivers may not drive, idle, park or obstruct one, and the lane continues through an intersection whether or not paint connects it. Transit lanes reserve part of the street for buses or light rail, sometimes with limited use by others. HOV lanes are marked by a white diamond, with signs stating the vehicles and occupant counts allowed. Reversible lanes change direction by time of day, separated by a barrier or double broken yellow lines, with roadside or overhead signs and sometimes special lights. The two-way left-turn lane (center turn lane) is only for left turns from either direction; never use it to pass or travel, you may stop in it until the turn is safe, and where one exists you may not turn left from any other lane.

At a roundabout vehicles circle to the right around a center island and entering traffic yields to circulating traffic. Colorado law requires you to yield to a truck, bus, emergency vehicle or recreational vehicle entering, exiting or circulating, and when two large vehicles arrive together the one on the right yields to the one on the left. With no large vehicles present, yield to traffic approaching from the left, stop completely only if traffic prevents merging, check the crosswalks and yield to waiting pedestrians, yield to pedestrians and bicyclists in any crosswalk when entering or leaving, drive to the right, follow the signs, and use your turn signals when changing lanes and exiting. A diverging diamond interchange crosses traffic to the opposite side across the interchange so ramps are reached without interruption, eliminating the left turns across traffic that cause conflicts at a standard interchange.

Practise this with Colorado Driver License questions

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