Colorado § 42-4-207 - Clearance and identification.

§ 42-4-207. Clearance and identification.

(1) Every vehicle designed or used for the transportation of property or for the transportation of persons shall display lighted lamps at the times mentioned in section 42-4-204 when and as required in this section.

(2) Clearance lamps.

(a) Every motor vehicle or motor-drawn vehicle having a width at any part in excess of eighty inches shall be equipped with four clearance lamps located as follows:

(I) Two on the front and one at each side, displaying an amber light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the front of the vehicle;

(II) Two on the rear and one at each side, displaying a red light visible only to the rear and visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear of the vehicle, which said rear clearance lamps shall be in addition to the rear red lamp required in section 42-4-206.

(b) All clearance lamps required shall be placed on the extreme sides and located on the highest stationary support; except that, when three or more identification lamps are mounted on the rear of a vehicle on the vertical center line and at the extreme height of the vehicle, rear clearance lamps may be mounted at optional height.

(c) Any trailer, when operated in conjunction with a vehicle which is properly equipped with front clearance lamps as provided in this section, may be, but is not required to be, equipped with front clearance lamps if the towing vehicle is of equal or greater width than the towed vehicle.

(d) All clearance lamps required in this section shall be of a type approved by the department.

(3) Side marker lamps.

(a) Every motor vehicle or motor-drawn vehicle or combination of such vehicles which exceeds thirty feet in overall length shall be equipped with four side marker lamps located as follows:

(I) One on each side near the front displaying an amber light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the side of the vehicle on which it is located;

(II) One on each side near the rear displaying a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the side of the vehicle on which it is located; but the rear marker light shall not be so placed as to be visible from the front of the vehicle.

(b) Each side marker lamp required shall be located not less than fifteen inches above the level on which the vehicle stands.

(c) If the clearance lamps required by this section are of such a design as to display lights visible from a distance of five hundred feet at right angles to the sides of the vehicles, they shall be deemed to meet the requirements as to marker lamps in this subsection (3).

(d) All marker lamps required in this section shall be of a type approved by the department.

(4) Clearance reflectors.

(a) Every motor vehicle having a width at any part in excess of eighty inches shall be equipped with clearance reflectors located as follows:

(I) Two red reflectors on the rear and one at each side, located not more than one inch from the extreme outside edges of the vehicle;

(II) All such reflectors shall be located not more than sixty inches nor less than fifteen inches above the level on which the vehicle stands.

(b) One or both of the required rear red reflectors may be incorporated within the tail lamp or tail lamps if any such tail lamps meet the location limits specified for reflectors.

(c) All such clearance reflectors shall be of a type approved by the department.

(5) Side marker reflectors.

(a) Every motor vehicle or motor-drawn vehicle or combination of vehicles which exceeds thirty feet in overall length shall be equipped with four side marker reflectors located as follows:

(I) One amber reflector on each side near the front;

(II) One red reflector on each side near the rear.

(b) Each side marker reflector shall be located not more than sixty inches nor less than fifteen inches above the level on which the vehicle stands.

(c) All such side marker reflectors shall be of a type approved by the department.

(6) Any person who violates any provision of this section commits a class B traffic infraction.

(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede any federal motor vehicle safety standard established pursuant to the "National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966", Public Law 89-563, as amended.

Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2292, § 1, effective January 1, 1995.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 42-4-206 as it existed prior to 1994, and the former § 42-4-207 was relocated to § 42-4-208.

Cross references: For current provisions relating to the "National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966", see 49 U.S.C. sec. 30101 et seq.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 42-4-207 is similar to § 42-4-206 as it existed prior to the 1994 amending of title 42 as enacted by SB 94-1, a relevant case construing that provision has been included with the annotations to this section.

Situation in which noncompliance not proximate cause of collision. In an action for damages resulting from a collision between a stopped truck and an oncoming automobile, where the clearance lights of a truck went out completely with the headlights, even if their number and location did not comply with this section, such noncompliance could not have been the proximate cause of the collision. Anderson v. Hudspeth Pine, Inc., 299 F.2d 874 (10th Cir. 1962).

Where a driver of a truck was negligent in proceeding on the highway after his clearance lights had begun to flicker was an issue of fact for the jury. Anderson v. Hudspeth Pine, Inc., 299 F.2d 874 (10th Cir. 1962).

Headlights and clearance lights need not operate on separate circuits. This state does not, either by statute or regulation, require, as do some states, that headlights and clearance lights operate on separate circuits, and when delivered from the manufacturers of trucks, the headlights and clearance lights are usually on a single circuit. Anderson v. Hudspeth Pine, Inc., 299 F.2d 874 (10th Cir. 1962).