Emergency vehicles — Colorado Permit Test

You must yield to all emergency vehicles using a siren, air horn or flashing red, blue, white or yellow lights, pulling to the right edge of the road and stopping where possible.

They need a clear lane and they need to know where you will be. Every driver pulling right makes that lane appear in the same place.

Where possible, you must pull to the right edge of the road and come to a stop

If you are in an intersection when an emergency vehicle approaches, drive through the intersection and then pull over.

Stopping in the middle blocks the very space the emergency vehicle is trying to get through. Clearing it first is the help they need.

If you are in an intersection, drive through the intersection, then pull over

Approaching a stopped emergency vehicle, slow to 25 mph if the posted speed limit is 45 mph or less.

Somebody is working within a few feet of moving traffic. At 25 you can stop for someone stepping out; above it you cannot.

25 MPH if the posted speed limit is 45 MPH or less

Approaching a stopped emergency vehicle where the posted speed limit is above 45 mph, slow to 20 mph under the posted limit.

On a fast road, dropping to a fixed low speed would be its own hazard. Twenty under the limit is the compromise Colorado sets.

20 MPH under the posted speed limit if the posted speed limit is above 45 MPH

Approaching an emergency vehicle stopped along the side of the road, try to leave at least one lane between your vehicle and it.

An open lane is a buffer against everything unexpected: a door opening, someone stepping out, a hose across the ground.

If you are approaching an emergency vehicle stopped along the side of the road, try to leave at least one lane between your vehicle and the emergency vehicle.

Where the road has only one lane on your side, or you cannot change lanes, slow to a safe speed and use care and caution as you pass an emergency vehicle.

Moving over is the first choice and is not always possible. When it is not, the speed is what is left to give.

If the road only has one lane on your side or you cannot change lanes, slow down to a safe speed and use care and caution as you pass

You must yield to service vehicles and maintenance equipment in use with flashing yellow and blue warning lights, and use extra caution when approaching, overtaking or passing them.

A maintenance crew works with their backs to traffic and their machinery in the lane. The lights are the only warning they can give you.

You must yield right of way to service vehicles and maintenance equipment when in use and flashing yellow and blue warning lights

It is illegal to pass an authorized snow plow working in a formation where the plows are staggered diagonally.

Plows in echelon are clearing the whole width together, and the gap between them is full of snow and blade. There is no room to get through.

It is illegal to pass an authorized snow plow when it is working in a formation in which the plows are staggered diagonally

Be especially cautious around snow plows because their size and speed can create clouds of blowing snow that conceal the plow.

The plow disappears inside the snow it is throwing. Drivers come out of that cloud already into the back of it.

Be especially cautious around snow plows because their size and speed can create clouds of blowing snow that can conceal the plow

What should you do when an emergency vehicle approaches with lights and siren?

Pull to the right edge of the road and stop. They need a clear lane and they need to know where you will be. Every driver pulling right makes that lane appear in the same place. Colorado Driver Handbook, p.11: “Where possible, you must pull to the right edge of the road and come to a stop”