Under Colorado red light law, an officer-issued ticket for running a red carries a $100 fine plus a $10 surcharge, four points on your driving record, and the risk of license suspension if points pile up. A camera-issued ticket is cheaper, capped at $75, and adds no points. If running the light causes an injury or a death, the case can shift from a traffic infraction to a felony with prison time.
What Counts as Running a Red in Colorado
A steady red requires you to stop at the marked stop line. No stop line? Stop before the crosswalk. No crosswalk either? Stop before entering the intersection. You stay stopped until the light changes.1Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-604 – Traffic Control Signal Legend
The violation happens the moment your vehicle crosses into the intersection against the red. Intent doesn’t matter. Distraction, misjudging the yellow, or trying to beat the light all produce the same citation.
One nuance is worth knowing. The statute treats yellow as a warning that red is coming, and the law only forbids entering on red. So if your front wheels crossed the stop line while the light was still yellow, you haven’t run the light even if it turned red mid-crossing. Most red light disputes actually turn on that timing question, and camera footage or officer testimony usually settles it.1Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-604 – Traffic Control Signal Legend
Turns on Red
Right on red is allowed after a complete stop, once you’ve yielded to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to vehicles already in the intersection. A posted sign banning the turn overrides that permission.1Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-604 – Traffic Control Signal Legend
Left on red is legal in one narrow situation: from a one-way street onto another one-way street where traffic runs to your left. Same rules apply. Stop, yield, and obey any sign that prohibits the turn.
Fine, Points, and License Risk for an Officer-Issued Ticket
An officer-issued red light violation is a traffic infraction. The set penalty is $100 plus a $10 surcharge under Colorado’s statewide schedule.2FindLaw. Colorado Code 42-4-1701 – Traffic Offenses and Infractions Classified Penalties Penalty and Surcharge Schedule County court costs push the actual bill higher than $110, with the exact figure varying by jurisdiction.
The ticket also adds four points to your record for failing to observe a traffic signal.3Justia. Colorado Code 42-2-127 – Authority to Suspend License – to Deny License – Type of Conviction – Points Four points won’t suspend an adult license on its own, but the Colorado DMV suspends drivers who cross these thresholds:4Colorado Department of Revenue. Point Suspensions
- Adults 21 and older: 12 points in 12 months, or 18 in 24 months.
- Drivers 18 to 20: 9 points in 12 months, 12 in 24 months, or 14 at any time before 21.
- Drivers 17 and under: 6 points in 12 months, or 7 at any time before 18.
Young drivers are on a much shorter leash. A single red light violation puts a 16-year-old past halfway to a suspension. If your license is suspended for points, reinstatement may require filing an SR-22 certificate and carrying high-risk insurance for a set period.5Department of Revenue – Motor Vehicle. SR-22 and Insurance Information
You can ask the court about a state-approved defensive driving course, which removes two points on completion. Eligibility usually requires a valid non-commercial Colorado license and a non-criminal offense. Even when the court allows it, two of the four points from a red light conviction remain.
How Camera Tickets Are Different
Colorado lets cities and counties use automated cameras to catch red light violations, and those tickets work on a separate track. The maximum civil penalty is $75 including any surcharge. Camera citations cannot add points to your record. The DMV has no authority to assess points for any violation caught by an automated system.6Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-110.5 – Automated Vehicle Identification Systems
The practical result: a camera ticket is a fine-only penalty with no effect on your license status. An officer-issued ticket for the same conduct costs more and puts four points on your record.
Notice Rules That Can Kill a Camera Ticket
Jurisdictions installing new cameras must announce the program on their website at least 30 days beforehand and issue only warnings during the first 30 days of operation. Permanent signs must be posted at least 300 feet ahead of each camera.7Colorado General Assembly. SB23-200 Automated Vehicle Identification Systems
Timing rules on the citation itself matter even more. Notice of violation must be mailed or served within 30 days of the offense for a Colorado-registered vehicle, or 60 days for an out-of-state vehicle. Miss those windows and the citation is not enforceable. A jurisdiction also cannot pursue collections unless the owner was personally served with either the violation notice or the final liability order.7Colorado General Assembly. SB23-200 Automated Vehicle Identification Systems
Insurance Consequences
Insurers review your driving record when setting premiums, and a four-point violation reads as elevated risk. A single officer-issued red light ticket usually causes a modest premium bump. The increase gets steeper if you already have recent violations or at-fault accidents.
Insurers typically look back three to five years, so the premium effect outlasts the ticket. Some carriers offer a voluntary discount for completing a defensive driving course, but no Colorado law requires them to. If your record eventually leads to a point suspension and an SR-22 requirement, expect a substantial premium increase for as long as the SR-22 is in place.
Defenses to a Red Light Ticket
The Signal Was Malfunctioning
If the signal was broken, stuck on red, or failed to detect your vehicle, which is a familiar problem for motorcyclists, Colorado law treats the intersection as a stop-sign-controlled intersection until an officer takes over or the signal starts working again.8Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-612 – When Signals Are Inoperative or Malfunctioning – Penalty Dashcam footage, witness statements, or photos of a dark or stuck signal can support this defense.
You Yielded to an Emergency Vehicle
Colorado requires drivers to yield to emergency vehicles running lights and sirens. Entering on red to clear the way for an ambulance, fire truck, or police vehicle is a recognized defense when moving forward was the only reasonable option.
You Weren’t the Driver (Camera Tickets)
Camera citations go to the registered owner. If someone else was behind the wheel, that’s a defense. Challenging the accuracy or calibration of the equipment is another angle worth pursuing on automated tickets.
Contesting the Citation
Fighting a ticket starts with requesting a court hearing by the deadline printed on the citation. Miss it and you waive the right to contest. Before the hearing, send a written discovery request for the officer’s notes, any video or photo evidence, and calibration records for camera equipment. Address the request to both the citing agency and the court clerk, and include your name, citation number, and offense date.
If the prosecution ignores your discovery request, you can file a motion to compel production. Courts generally won’t hold missing evidence against you at trial.
When Running a Red Causes a Crash
A collision turns the same conduct into something much more serious. The charge depends on how badly someone was hurt.
Careless Driving
Running a red that causes a collision can be charged as careless driving. Without injuries it’s a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense. With bodily injury or death, it becomes a class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense.9Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-1402 – Careless Driving – Penalty Careless driving adds four points to your record on its own, or twelve if the offense resulted in a death.3Justia. Colorado Code 42-2-127 – Authority to Suspend License – to Deny License – Type of Conviction – Points
Reckless Driving
If prosecutors decide the conduct showed willful disregard for safety rather than mere carelessness, reckless driving is on the table. It’s a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense, and a second or later conviction carries a $50 to $1,000 fine, 10 days to 6 months in jail, or both.10Justia. Colorado Code 42-4-1401 – Reckless Driving Reckless driving carries eight points, enough on its own to push many drivers toward suspension.3Justia. Colorado Code 42-2-127 – Authority to Suspend License – to Deny License – Type of Conviction – Points
Vehicular Assault
When reckless driving through a red light causes serious bodily injury, the charge is vehicular assault, a class 5 felony.11Justia. Colorado Code 18-3-205 – Vehicular Assault A conviction carries one to three years in prison, a mandatory two-year parole period, and fines from $1,000 to $100,000.12Justia. Colorado Code 18-1.3-401 – Felonies Classified – Presumptive Penalties The injured person can also sue separately for medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Vehicular Homicide
If someone dies because you recklessly ran a red, the charge is vehicular homicide, a class 4 felony.13Justia. Colorado Code 18-3-106 – Vehicular Homicide Sentencing runs two to six years in prison plus three years of mandatory parole, with fines from $2,000 to $500,000.12Justia. Colorado Code 18-1.3-401 – Felonies Classified – Presumptive Penalties A felony record also brings loss of gun rights and long-term difficulty with employment and housing.
Out-of-State Drivers
Don’t ignore a Colorado ticket because you live elsewhere. Colorado belongs to the Driver License Compact, which shares traffic conviction data among most states. Your home state will receive notice and typically apply its own points schedule. A minor Colorado infraction can trigger disproportionate consequences back home if your state assigns higher points for signal violations or if you’re close to a suspension threshold.
For camera tickets, the jurisdiction has 60 days to serve you rather than the 30 days that applies to Colorado residents.7Colorado General Assembly. SB23-200 Automated Vehicle Identification Systems You still have the right to request a hearing.
Extra Exposure for CDL Holders
Commercial drivers face federal consequences on top of Colorado’s. Two serious traffic violations within three years bring a 60-day CDL disqualification, and three within three years extends the disqualification to 120 days.14eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers Running a red light usually isn’t a “serious traffic violation” on its own under federal rules, but it is when connected with a fatal accident. Reckless driving, which often follows a red light crash, is explicitly listed as a serious traffic violation. For a commercial driver, one bad intersection decision can shut down the career for months.