Parents and professionals can help protect teens on the road by learning more about and enforcing Colorado’s graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws. Teens who say their parents set rules and monitor their driving behavior in a supportive way are 50 percent less likely to crash and 70 percent less likely to drive intoxicated.
Supporting safe driving for your teen
- Explore the GDL Toolkit (website) to learn more about GDL laws, teaching your teen to drive, and creating a parent/teen driving contract to enforce safe driving behaviors at home. Colorado scored in the lowest tier possible for teen driving safety laws in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's review of state motor vehicle laws.
- Download tools and resources on teen driving safety from the COTeenDriver.com website, hosted by the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Teens are inexperienced drivers and more likely than adults to take risks while driving. Because of this, Colorado implemented GDL laws to help teenagers gain important driving skills gradually while limiting dangers by restricting the number of passengers, banning cellphone use, and setting a curfew.
Data resources
- CDOT Motor Vehicle Problem Identification Reports (CDOT website).
- Motor vehicle fatality data (2012 data) by race and ethnicity(CDOT website).
- Injury in Colorado, 2012-2014 (PDF)
- Colorado Child Fatality Prevention System (Networking and Information for the Colorado Child Fatality Prevention System's Local and State Teams website)
National resources
- The Parent's Supervised Driving Program (website). An engaging, multi-media program for parents and teens to follow during the supervised driving process.
State resources
- Impact Teen Drivers classroom videos are available in English, Spanish, and with open captioning) (Impact Teen Drivers website)
- Colorado Department of Transportation’s Office of Transportation Safety (CDOT website) provides funding opportunities (CDOT website) each year for local communities to address motor vehicle safety issues.
- The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Driver Education webpage includes:
- Driver Handbook (DMV website PDF).
- Driver Handbook in Spanish (DMV website PDF).
- Commercial Driver License Manual (DMV website PDF).
- Motorcycle Operator's Handbook (DMV website PDF).
- Parent's Supervised Driving Guide (DMV website PDF).
- Driver Handbook Practice Quiz (DMV Google form).
- Audiobook versions of the Colorado Driver Manual are available on: