Be kind when passing and being passed

One of the things about living in rural parts of Colorado means often having to travel on two lane roads. Where it is sometimes a lot more pleasant than driving on a big highway, it can have its drawbacks. One of those is not having a passing lane you can access the entire time you are traveling that roadway. In Colorado, there are 11 state statutes that talk about the proper way to pass another vehicle. I’m going to hit on a few of them this month.

Passing on the left in an unsafe manner: This is one I see a lot of times. When you are going to pass a vehicle going the same direction, there are a multitude of items to make sure you are going to be able to pass safely. The law states you must do so in a safe manner. This means not getting too close to the vehicle you are about to pass. In other words, don’t ride their bumper. The second part of this is when you pass, make sure you give the vehicle being passed a safe amount of space before going back into their lane. If you cause the other vehicle to slow or worse yet brake hard because you came in too close to them, you are in the wrong.

Also keep in mind the area you are making your pass needs to be sufficient enough to be able to complete the pass before the lines dividing the lanes go back to a solid line. So this means if you start your pass when there is a dotted line and you do not get back over to the right lane prior to the lines going solid, you may be cited for passing in a no passing zone. You are also not allowed to go over the speed limit to pass another vehicle.

When being passed on the left by another vehicle: This is another violation I see quite often. When being passed on the left, the driver is required to give way to the passing vehicle and shall not increase speed while being passed.

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.