(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the driver of a school bus, as defined in paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of this section, carrying any schoolchild, the driver of a vehicle carrying hazardous materials that is required to be placarded in accordance with regulations issued pursuant to section 42-20-108, or the driver of a commercial vehicle, as defined in section 42-4235, that is transporting passengers, before crossing at grade any tracks of a railroad, shall stop such vehicle within fifty feet but not less than fifteen feet from the nearest rail of such railroad and while so stopped shall listen and look in both directions along such track for any approaching train and for signals indicating the approach of a train and shall not proceed until the driver can do so safely. After stopping as required in this section and upon proceeding when it is safe to do so, the driver of any said vehicle shall cross only in such gear of the vehicle that there will be no necessity for changing gears while traversing such crossing, and the driver shall not manually shift gears while crossing the tracks.
This section shall not apply at street railway grade crossings within a business district.
When stopping as required at such railroad crossing, the driver shall keep as far tothe right of the roadway as possible and shall not form two lanes of traffic unless the roadway is marked for four or more lanes of traffic.
Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply at:
(Deleted by amendment, L. 2006, p. 42, § 1, effective July 1, 2006.)
Any railroad grade crossing at which traffic is regulated by a traffic control signal;
Any railroad grade crossing at which traffic is controlled by a police officer or human flagperson;
Any railroad crossing where state or local road authorities within their respectivejurisdictions have determined that trains are not operating during certain periods or seasons of the year and have erected an official sign carrying the legend "exempt", which shall give notice when so posted that such crossing is exempt from the stopping requirement provided for in this section.
(5) For the purposes of this section:
The definition of hazardous materials shall be the definition contained in the rulesadopted by the chief of the Colorado state patrol pursuant to section 42-20-108.
"School bus" means a school bus that is required to bear on the front and rear of suchschool bus the words "SCHOOL BUS" and display visual signal lights pursuant to section 42-41903 (2)(a).
(6) Any person who violates any provision of this section commits a class A traffic infraction.
Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2349, § 1, effective January 1,
1995. L. 95: (1) amended, p. 956, § 15, effective May 25. L. 2000: (1) and (5) amended, p. 20, § 2, effective March 9. L. 2006: (1), (2), and (4)(a) amended, p. 42, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2010: (5)(b) amended, (HB 10-1232), ch. 163, p. 573, § 13, effective April 28.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 42-4-608 as it existed prior to 1994, and the former § 42-4-707 was relocated to § 42-4-807.