Colo. Rev. Stat. § 42-4-221 (2026)

(1) No other provision of this part 2 and no provision of part 3 of this article 4 applies to a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD or to equipment for use on a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD except those provisions in this article 4 made specifically applicable to such a vehicle.

(2) Every bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD in use at the times described in section 42-4-204 shall be equipped with a lamp on the front emitting a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front.

(3) Every bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD shall be equipped with a red reflector of a type approved by the department, which shall be visible for six hundred feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle.

(4) Every bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD when in use at the times described in section 42-4-204 shall be equipped with reflective material of sufficient size and reflectivity to be visible from both sides for six hundred feet when directly in front of lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle or, in lieu of such reflective material, with a lighted lamp visible from both sides from a distance of at least five hundred feet.

(5) A bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, electric scooter, or EPAMD or its rider may be equipped with lights or reflectors in addition to those required by subsections (2) to (4) of this section.

(6) A bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter shall not be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter, any siren or whistle.

(7) Every bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter shall be equipped with a brake or brakes that will enable its rider to stop the bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter within twenty-five feet from a speed of ten miles per hour on dry, level, clean pavement.

(8) A person engaged in the business of selling bicycles, electrical assisted bicycles, or electric scooters at retail shall not sell any bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter unless the bicycle, electrical assisted bicycle, or electric scooter has an identifying number permanently stamped or cast on its frame.

(8.5) A local government may regulate the operation of an electric scooter in a manner that is no more restrictive than the manner in which the local government may regulate the operation of a class 1 electrical assisted bicycle.

(9) (a) On or after January 1, 2018, every manufacturer or distributor of new electrical assisted bicycles intended for sale or distribution in this state shall permanently affix to each electrical assisted bicycle, in a prominent location, a label that contains the classification number, top assisted speed, and motor wattage of the electrical assisted bicycle. The label must be printed in the arial font in at least nine-point type.

(b) A person shall not knowingly modify an electrical assisted bicycle so as to change the speed capability or motor engagement of the electrical assisted bicycle without also appropriately replacing, or causing to be replaced, the label indicating the classification required by subsection (9)(a) of this section.

(10) (a) An electrical assisted bicycle must comply with the equipment and manufacturing requirements for bicycles adopted by the United States consumer product safety commission and codified at 16 CFR 1512 or its successor regulation.

(b) A class 2 electrical assisted bicycle must operate in a manner so that the electric motor is disengaged or ceases to function when the brakes are applied. Class 1 and class 3 electrical assisted bicycles must be equipped with a mechanism or circuit that cannot be bypassed and that causes the electric motor to disengage or cease to function when the rider stops pedaling.

(c) A class 3 electrical assisted bicycle must be equipped with a speedometer that displays, in miles per hour, the speed the electrical assisted bicycle is traveling.

(11) A person who violates this section commits a class B traffic infraction.

Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2256, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 2009: (1) to (8) amended, (HB 09-1026), ch. 281, p. 1275, § 45, effective October 1. L. 2017: (9) amended and (10) and (11) added, (HB 17-1151), ch. 98, p. 296, § 4, effective August 9. L. 2019: (1) to (8) amended and (8.5) added, (HB 19-1221), ch. 271, p. 2559, § 5, effective May 23.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 42-4-218.5 as it existed prior to 1994, and the former § 42-4-221 was relocated to § 42-4-224.

42-4-222. Volunteer firefighters - volunteer ambulance attendants - special lights and alarm systems. (1) (a) All members of volunteer fire departments regularly attached to the fire departments organized within incorporated towns, counties, cities, and fire protection districts and all members of a volunteer ambulance service regularly attached to a volunteer ambulance service within an area that the ambulance service would be reasonably expected to serve may have their private automobiles equipped with a signal lamp or a combination of signal lamps capable of displaying flashing, oscillating, or rotating red lights visible to the front and rear at five hundred feet in normal sunlight. In addition to the red light, flashing, oscillating, or rotating signal lights may be used that emit white or white in combination with red lights. At least one of such signal lamps or combination of signal lamps shall be mounted on the top of the automobile. Said automobiles may be equipped with audible signal systems such as sirens, whistles, or bells. Said lights, together with any signal systems authorized by this subsection (1), may be used only as authorized by subsection (3) of this section or when a member of a fire department is responding to or attending a fire alarm or other emergency or when a member of an ambulance service is responding to an emergency requiring the member's services. Except as authorized in subsection (3) of this section, neither such lights nor such signals shall be used for any other purpose than those set forth in this subsection (1). If used for any other purpose, such use shall constitute a violation of this subsection (1), and the violator commits a class B traffic infraction.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1), a member of a volunteer fire department or a volunteer ambulance service may equip his or her private automobile with the equipment described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) only after receiving a permit for the equipment from the fire chief of the fire department or chief executive officer of the ambulance service through which the volunteer serves.

(2) (Deleted by amendment, L. 96, p. 957, § 3, effective July 1, 1996.)

(3) A fire engine collector or member of a fire department may use the signal system authorized by subsection (1) of this section in a funeral, parade, or for other special purposes if the circumstances would not lead a reasonable person to believe that such vehicle is responding to an actual emergency. Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2257, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 96: (1) and (2) amended, p. 957, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2004: (1) amended, p. 1081, § 5, effective July 1. L. 2005: (1)(a) amended and (3) added, p. 195, § 2, effective July 1.