Colorado § 42-4-1204 - Stopping, standing, or parking prohibited in specified places - penalty.

§ 42-4-1204. Stopping, standing, or parking prohibited in specified places - penalty.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, no person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or an official traffic control device, in any of the following places:

(a) On a sidewalk;

(b) Within an intersection;

(c) On a crosswalk;

(d) Between a safety zone and the adjacent curb or within thirty feet of points on the curb immediately opposite the ends of a safety zone, unless the traffic authority indicates a different length by signs or markings;

(e) Alongside or opposite any street excavation or obstruction when stopping, standing, or parking would obstruct traffic;

(f) On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of a street;

(g) Upon any bridge or other elevated structure upon a highway or within a highway tunnel;

(h) On any railroad tracks;

(i) On any controlled-access highway;

(j) In the area between roadways of a divided highway, including crossovers;

(j.5) In the portion of a roadway designated as a bike lane;

(k) At any other place where official signs prohibit stopping.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, in addition to the restrictions specified in subsection (1) of this section, no person shall stand or park a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or an official traffic control device, in any of the following places:

(a) Within five feet of a public or private driveway;

(b) Within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant;

(c) Within twenty feet of a crosswalk at an intersection;

(d) Within thirty feet upon the approach to any flashing beacon or signal, stop sign, yield sign, or traffic control signal located at the side of a roadway;

(e) Within twenty feet of the driveway entrance to any fire station or, on the side of a street opposite the entrance to any fire station, within seventy-five feet of said entrance when properly signposted;

(f) At any other place where official signs prohibit standing.

(3) In addition to the restrictions specified in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, no person shall park a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or official traffic control device, in any of the following places:

(a) Within fifty feet of the nearest rail of a railroad crossing;

(b) At any other place where official signs prohibit parking.

(4) (a) Subsection (1)(a) of this section does not prohibit a person from parking a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter on a sidewalk in accordance with the provisions of section 42-4-1412 (11)(a) and (11)(b).

(b) Subsection (1)(f) of this section does not prohibit persons from parking two or more bicycles, electrical assisted bicycles, or electric scooters abreast in accordance with the provisions of section 42-4-1412 (11)(d).

(c) Subsections (2)(a), (2)(c), and (2)(d) of this section do not apply to a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter parked on a sidewalk in accordance with section 42-4-1412 (11)(a) and (11)(b).

(5) No person shall move a vehicle not lawfully under such person's control into any such prohibited area or away from a curb such distance as is unlawful.

(6) The department of transportation, with respect to highways under its jurisdiction, may place official traffic control devices prohibiting, limiting, or restricting the stopping, standing, or parking of vehicles on any highway where it is determined, upon the basis of a traffic investigation or study, that such stopping, standing, or parking is dangerous to those using the highway or where the stopping, standing, or parking of vehicles would unduly interfere with the free movement of traffic thereon. No person shall stop, stand, or park any vehicle in violation of the restrictions indicated by such devices.

(7) Any person who violates any provision of this section commits a class B traffic infraction; except that, if a person violates paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section and the violation occurs in an unincorporated area of a county, the penalty is fifty dollars.

(8) A political subdivision shall not adopt or enforce an ordinance or regulation that prohibits the parking of more than one motorcycle or autocycle within a space served by a single parking meter.

Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2370, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 98: (8) added, p. 1102, § 24, effective June 1. L. 2009: (4) amended, (HB 09-1026), ch. 281, p. 1277, § 55, effective October 1. L. 2012: (7) amended, (HB 12-1094), ch. 77, p. 258, § 1, effective April 6. L. 2019: (4) amended, (HB 19-1221), ch. 271, p. 2561, § 10, effective May 23. L. 2022: (8) amended, (HB 22-1043), ch. 361, p. 2586, § 23, effective January 1, 2023. L. 2026: (1)(j.5) added, (HB 26-1237), ch. 117, p. 461, § 2, effective August 12.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 42-4-1104 as it existed prior to 1994, and the former § 42-4-1204 was relocated to § 42-4-1402.

Cross references: For the penalty for a class B traffic infraction generally, see § 42-4-1701 (3)(a)(I); for the penalty and surcharge for parking violations of this section, see § 42-4-1701 (4)(a)(I)(M).