Colorado Default Speed Limits
Default speed limits where no sign is posted: residential, urban, rural, school zones, and interstate maximums.
- Residential default (mph)
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30
- Urban default (mph)
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25
- Rural default (mph)
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65-75
- Interstate maximum (mph)
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75
- Turning right (and left) on a red light
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Right on red is allowed statewide after a complete stop, unless a posted sign prohibits it. You may also turn left on red from a one-way street onto another one-way street after stopping, unless a sign there prohibits it. Either way, yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to traffic already using the intersection. C.R.S. 42-4-604(1)(c)(I) requires a stop at a steady circular red, then allows two exceptions. Sub-subparagraph (A) allows the right turn after stopping and yielding, unless state or local road authorities have prohibited it by ordinance or resolution AND erected an official sign at that intersection. Sub-subparagraph (B) allows the left turn on red when you are already on a one-way street and are turning onto a one-way street whose traffic moves to your left, subject to the same sign-plus-ordinance exception. Sub-subparagraph (C) is important for readers: the statute expressly strips local authorities of any discretion beyond what it grants, so Colorado has no city-wide or jurisdiction-wide ban comparable to New York City's; a prohibition has to be signed at the specific intersection. A steady RED ARROW is different: C.R.S. 42-4-604(1)(c)(III) requires you to stop and remain standing until the arrow movement is permitted, so no turn on a red arrow.
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