What a Colorado speeding ticket is

A Colorado speeding ticket handed out by an officer is typically charged under C.R.S. § 42-4-1101 as a traffic infraction or (at higher mph over) a misdemeanor traffic offense. It is not the same paper as a mailed Colorado automated vehicle identification system (AVIS) / CDOT camera civil notice under C.R.S. § 42-4-110.5. If the paper has photos and names an AVIS / CDOT Speed Enforcement / local camera program, see Colorado camera notices: AVIS / CDOT vs local. Confirm what your paper says.

US overview: What a speeding ticket notice is. Contrast: What an NYC speeding ticket is · What a California speeding ticket is · What a Florida speeding ticket is · What a Pennsylvania speeding ticket is · What a Virginia speeding ticket is.

What the paper / DMV describe

Colorado DMV “Paying a Ticket or Penalty Assessment” (dmv.colorado.gov, retrieved 22 Sep 2026): the DMV can accept state Penalty Assessments written under Colorado state statutes. The DMV cannot accept summons or municipal citations (pay the local court on the ticket), parking tickets, or photo radar tickets (deal with the city or agency that issued them), or tickets more than 40 days old (already referred to court). That is DMV’s statement, not an instruction from us.

Same DMV page: if you pay online or your mailed payment is postmarked within 20 days of receiving the ticket, you receive a reduction in the points added to the driving record; the financial charge shown on the citation stays the same. Paying is treated as an admission of guilt; if you do not want to pay, go to court on the appearance date on the citation. That is DMV’s statement. We do not tell you whether to pay or appear.

Speed statute (C.R.S. § 42-4-1101)

C.R.S. § 42-4-1101 (Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 Title 42 PDF, retrieved 22 Sep 2026): no person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions then existing. Subsection (8)(b): no person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed in excess of a maximum lawful speed limit of seventy-five miles per hour. That is the statute’s statement.

C.R.S. § 42-4-1101(12) (retrieved 22 Sep 2026): driving one to twenty-four miles per hour in excess of the reasonable and prudent speed or in excess of the maximum lawful seventy-five mph limit is a class A traffic infraction. Driving twenty-five or more miles per hour in excess is a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense; except that such a violation within a maintenance, repair, or construction zone designated under § 42-4-614 is a class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense. A violation under subsection (3) (failure to decrease speed for a special hazard) is a class A traffic infraction. That is the statute’s statement. Read the charge printed on your paper.

Penalty and surcharge schedule (C.R.S. § 42-4-1701)

C.R.S. § 42-4-1701(4)(a)(I)(L) (Title 42 PDF, retrieved 22 Sep 2026) states penalties and surcharges for speeding under § 42-4-1101 (1) or (8)(b) as follows:

1–4 mph over — $30 penalty + $6 surcharge; 5–9 — $70 + $10; 10–19 — $135 + $16; 20–24 — $200 + $32.

Same schedule: failure to decrease for a special hazard under § 42-4-1101(3) — $100 + $10. Low-power scooter rows under § 42-4-1101(8)(g) have separate schedule amounts. That is the statute’s schedule statement, not an instruction from us.

C.R.S. § 42-4-1701(4)(e)(I) (retrieved 22 Sep 2026): an additional twenty dollars is assessed for speeding violations under (4)(a)(I)(L), deposited to the Colorado brain injury trust fund. If collected by a county, subsection (4)(e)(II) states the surcharge is twenty-two dollars (two dollars retained by the county; twenty dollars to the trust fund). That is the statute’s statement.

C.R.S. § 42-4-1701(4)(c)(I) (retrieved 22 Sep 2026): penalties and surcharges for speeding under (4)(a)(I)(L) are doubled if the speeding occurs within a maintenance, repair, or construction zone designated by CDOT under § 42-4-614(1)(a); except that the penalty for violating § 42-4-1101(1) or (8)(b) by twenty to twenty-four mph over is five hundred forty dollars. Subsection (4)(c)(III) likewise doubles speeding penalties/surcharges in work zones designated by a public entity under § 42-4-614(1)(b). Subsection (4)(d): the penalty and surcharge for any moving traffic violation under (4)(a)(I) are doubled if the violation occurs within a school zone under § 42-4-615. That is the statute’s statement of both the doubling rules and the 20–24 mph work-zone exception amount. Confirm the amount printed on your citation and with the court or DMV path named on it.

UNKNOWN from this schedule alone: the exact total payable after any court costs, local add-ons, or late fees once a matter is filed with a court (as opposed to a timely state penalty assessment). Confirm what your paper and the named court / DMV payment path state.

DMV points (C.R.S. § 42-2-127)

C.R.S. § 42-2-127(5)(f) (Title 42 PDF, retrieved 22 Sep 2026) — Speeding points:

1–4 mph over — 0 points; 5–9 — 1; 10–19 — 4; 20–39 — 6; 40 or more — 12; failure to reduce for a special hazard — 3.

C.R.S. § 42-4-1101(13) and (14), as added by Senate Bill 26-035 (2026 Colo. Sess. Laws ch. 178; session-law PDF retrieved 7 Oct 2026): for traffic infractions committed on or after the act’s applicable effective date, the department shall assess additional points in addition to the number of points described in § 42-2-127(5)(f). Under (13), for driving twenty miles per hour or more in excess of the reasonable and prudent speed or driving in excess of the maximum lawful speed of seventy-five miles per hour: two points for a second violation in a twelve-month period; four points for a third or subsequent violation in a twenty-four-month period; and eight points for a fifth or subsequent violation in a five-year period. Under (14): four points in addition to (5)(f) for driving one hundred miles per hour or greater. That is the session law’s statement. We do not compute a reader’s points total.

Same act, § 5 adding C.R.S. § 42-4-1701(5)(c)(I)(E) (retrieved 7 Oct 2026): the penalty and surcharge schedules of § 42-4-1701(4) and the penalty-assessment notice provisions of § 42-4-1701(5)(a) and (5)(b) do not apply when the defendant is subject to the penalties in § 42-4-1101(13) for driving twenty miles per hour or more in excess of the reasonable and prudent speed or driving in excess of seventy-five miles per hour more than once in a twelve-month period, more than twice in a twenty-four-month period, or more than four times in a five-year period. That is the session law’s statement that those repeat cases are outside the penalty-assessment notice path (summons and complaint instead). Confirm what paper you received.

UNKNOWN from this rewrite alone: whether a referendum petition was filed against SB 26-035 (or an item, section, or part of it) within the ninety-day period after final adjournment. Section 8 of the act states the act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of that ninety-day period (August 12, 2026, if adjournment sine die is on May 13, 2026); except that if a referendum petition is filed within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor. Subsection (2): this act applies to traffic infractions committed on or after the applicable effective date of this act. Approved: May 27, 2026. That is the session law’s effective-date statement; we do not assert that no petition was filed.

C.R.S. § 42-2-127(1) (retrieved 22 Sep 2026): the department may suspend a license for accumulating, among other thresholds, twelve points or more within any twelve consecutive months or eighteen points or more within any twenty-four consecutive months for drivers twenty-one and older (lower thresholds apply to younger drivers as that subsection states). That is the statute’s statement.

Colorado DMV Suspension and Reinstatement FAQs (retrieved 22 Sep 2026) restate adult thresholds as 12 points in 12 months or 18 in 24 months, and describe a $95 reinstatement fee path after serving a points suspension. That is DMV’s statement. We do not tell you how a ticket will affect your license or insurance.

C.R.S. § 42-2-127(5.5) (retrieved 22 Sep 2026): if a person receives a penalty assessment notice under § 42-4-1701(5) and pays the fine and surcharge on or before the due date, points are reduced by two for a violation that would otherwise assess three or more points, or by one for a two-point violation. That matches DMV’s 20-day early-pay point statement. That is the statute’s statement, not an instruction from us.

Do not mix this officer points path with AVIS / CDOT camera civil notices: C.R.S. § 42-4-110.5(3) states the department has no authority to assess points for AVIS-detected violations under that section. Camera track: Colorado camera notices: AVIS / CDOT vs local.

Paths the paper / DMV describe (not which to choose)

DMV describes paying an eligible state penalty assessment (including the 20-day early-pay point path) or appearing in court on the date on the citation. For defendants subject to § 42-4-1101(13) as added by SB 26-035, C.R.S. § 42-4-1701(5)(c)(I)(E) states the penalty-assessment notice provisions do not apply (summons and complaint instead — that is the session law’s statement). Municipal / summons / photo-radar papers follow the court or agency named on them. We do not tell you whether to pay or appear.

Violation.com does not collect Colorado fines. If you upload a speeding notice, we summarize what the notice shows. It is not legal advice.

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Sources retrieved 22 Sep 2026; SB 26-035 session law retrieved 7 Oct 2026:

Not legal advice. Not a law firm. Not affiliated with a government agency. Information Only.