Parking rules — Colorado Permit Test

Leave the vehicle in park if it has an automatic transmission, set the emergency brake, and remove the ignition key when leaving the vehicle.

Three things hold a parked car still and any one of them can fail. The key matters because a car left running is a car somebody can take.

Set the emergency brake and remember to remove the ignition key when leaving the vehicle

With a standard transmission, leave the vehicle in low gear when headed uphill and in reverse gear when headed downhill.

The gear is a brake of last resort, and it has to hold against the way the car would roll. Which gear depends on which way the hill runs.

If it’s a standard transmission, leave the vehicle in low gear when headed uphill and in reverse gear when headed downhill

You may not park on a crosswalk, sidewalk, bridge, elevated structure, railroad tracks or any controlled access highway.

Each one is a place where a parked car forces somebody else into danger, whether that is a walker into the road or a driver into a live lane.

On a crosswalk, sidewalk, bridge, elevated structure, railroad tracks or any controlled access highway ● Within 30 feet of a traffic signal, stop sign, railroad crossing or within 15 feet of a fire hydrant ● Within an intersection, tunnel, runaway truck ramp, on/ off ramp or blocking a driveway ● In a bike lane Parallel parking:

You may not park within 30 feet of a traffic signal, stop sign or railroad crossing.

A car parked that close hides the sign or the signal from everybody approaching. Thirty feet is what keeps the view open.

Within 30 feet of a traffic signal, stop sign, railroad crossing or within 15 feet of a fire hydrant ● Within an intersection, tunnel, runaway truck ramp, on/ off ramp or blocking a driveway ● In a bike lane Parallel parking:

You may not park within 15 feet of a fire hydrant.

A fire crew has to get a hose onto the hydrant in seconds. A car on top of it costs them the time a building does not have.

Within 30 feet of a traffic signal, stop sign, railroad crossing or within 15 feet of a fire hydrant

You may not park within an intersection, tunnel, runaway truck ramp, on-ramp or off-ramp, or block a driveway, and you may not park in a bike lane.

Every one of those is a place traffic has to keep moving through. A runaway truck ramp is the extreme case: it exists for a truck with no brakes.

Within an intersection, tunnel, runaway truck ramp

Where parallel parking is permitted your vehicle must be within 12 inches of the curb, or as close as possible to the outside edge of the shoulder, so traffic is not blocked or slowed.

A foot is about the width of a hand span twice over. Further out and your car is sticking into the lane people are driving in.

Where parallel parking is permitted, your vehicle must be within 12 inches of the curb or as close as possible to the outside edge of the shoulder, so traffic will not be blocked or slowed

To pull away from a parallel parked position, signal, check your mirrors and blind spots, and pull away when it is safe.

You are joining moving traffic from a standstill, which is the hardest merge there is. The blind spot check is the one drivers skip.

To pull away from a parallel parked position, activate your signal, check your mirrors and blind spots, and pull away when safe

What should be done every time you leave a parked vehicle?

Set the emergency brake and remove the key. Three things hold a parked car still and any one of them can fail. The key matters because a car left running is a car somebody can take. Colorado Driver Handbook, p.13: “Set the emergency brake and remember to remove the ignition key when leaving the vehicle”