Supervising a New Driver in Colorado: Parent's Guide
If your teen is going through Colorado's graduated licensing system, your supervised-driving role is built into the law. Here's what your teen needs to log, what restrictions apply, and where parents most commonly slip up.
GDL stages and supervised-driving requirements
- Permit holding period (months)
-
12
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Minor Drivers, Application for driver license
- Supervised driving hours required
-
50
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Minor Drivers, Application for driver license
- Of which, night hours
-
10
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Minor Drivers, Application for driver license
- Earliest intermediate license age
-
16
- Intermediate curfew — start time
-
12:00 AM
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Minor Drivers, Curfew
- Intermediate curfew — end time
-
5:00 AM
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Minor Drivers, Curfew
- Intermediate passenger restriction
-
For the first six months after license issuance, a driver under 18 may not carry any passenger under 21 unless a parent or another licensed adult driver is in the vehicle. From six months to one year of licensure, the driver may carry one passenger under 21. After one year, the driver may carry as many passengers as there are seat belts in the vehicle. Siblings and passengers experiencing a medical emergency are exempt from the passenger limit at any stage. Regardless of age tier, the total number of passengers in a vehicle driven by a person under 18 may never exceed the number of seat belts.
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Minor Drivers, Passenger restrictions and Seat Belt Laws
- Earliest full license age
-
18
- Minimum age — driver license
-
16
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Getting a Driver License (opening paragraph)
Phone laws for new drivers
- Handheld phone — banned for all drivers?
-
conditional
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Safe Driving Tips, Using a cell phone while driving
- Texting — banned for all drivers?
-
yes
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Safe Driving Tips, Using a cell phone while driving
- Hands-free also banned for minors?
-
yes
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Safe Driving Tips, Using a cell phone while driving
Seatbelt and passenger rules
- Seats required to belt
-
front seats plus all children under 16 in any seat
- Child seat — age threshold
-
8
Source: Colorado Driver Handbook (2023), Seat Belt Laws, Colorado child passenger protection law
The Colorado Permit-Phase Coaching Plan, free.
The parent's-eye view of the permit phase: Colorado's GDL numbers, the supervised-hours ladder, how to coach mistakes without breaking confidence, and a test-week plan.
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