Beware of Colorado Highway Laws

For those of you that may not be aware (or at least didn't remember) there is a law in Colorado that went into effect a couple of years ago which prohibits driving (cruising) in the left hand lane of the multi-lane highways. You should only use the left lanes for passing other vehicles and then get back over to the right as soon as possible.

I had forgotten about this until yesterday, when I got stopped by a CSP officer and given a courtesy warning. She told me that they are starting to enforce this more now to help avoid some of the aggressive driver accidents. Thankfully that was just a courtesy stop.

Unfortunately the rest of the story is not so happy. If you ever get a ticket for not being able to provide proof of insurance, don't depend on the court system to inform the DMV that you have provided such proof and resolved the issue. THEY DON'T DO IT!!! During this courtesy stop yesterday, I was informed that my Colorado driver's license was revoked more than a year ago for failure to provide proof of financial responsibility.

See, I had been involved in an auto accident in October 2007 and when asked for my information, I discovered that I did not have my current auto insurance card with me. I received a ticket for this and of course the DMV was informed of this citation. I was summoned to appear in court and provide the necessary documentation at that time. Prior to the court date I received a letter from the DMV indicating that I needed to provide this information. I went to court as instructed with the proper documentation. The insurance issue was dismissed. I assumed (and YES, I know what happens when you assume something!) that the DMV would be notified through the same channels by which they were notified of the original citation. I thought the issue was done and satisfied all the way around. WRONG!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, when the CSP officer took my license to run it through the system, she came back to my car and informed me that my license had been revoked as of 12/09/07!!! MORE THAN A YEAR AGO!!!! And I had never been notified by ANYONE. So she took my license but let me drive away.

Well, long story short, I panicked most of the rest of the day yesterday. This morning my thoughts were a little more clear. I made a few phone calls and found out what I needed to do get my license back. Turns out it was more simple than I thought it would be and I had my license back in about 90 minutes.

Just be careful and don't assume that the system is going to take care of things. Look out for yourself!!!