DENVER Drivers risk a ticket if they dont slow down or move over a lane for tow trucks parked on the side of the road.
Drivers already have to move over for parked emergency vehicles, and a Colorado Springs tragedy led the Legislature to extend safety rules for tow trucks.
Its one of several new laws that took effect Friday.
The bill is named for Allen Rose, a Colorado Springs tow truck driver who was dragged to death in February after a woman sped away when he was hooking up her sport utility vehicle to his truck.
Its a tough business and a hard way to make a living, said Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, who sponsored Senate Bill 260 to make working conditions safer for tow truck drivers.
The bill applies to tow trucks when their flashing yellow lights are on. If the road is too narrow or crowded to move over a lane, drivers have to slow down and pass with caution.
Give them room to do the stuff theyre doing out there in the middle of traffic, Morse said.
The law also makes it a crime to remove a tow truck warning sign from a car that is about to be towed.
Other new laws that took effect Friday follow:
Commercial diesel vehicles can idle their engines for no more than five minutes per hour as a result of House Bill 1275. Lobbyists for truckers groups supported the bill because it creates a single statewide standard and bars towns from adopting a stricter rule.
Synthetic marijuana, known as salvia, became illegal through SB 134. It will be a class 2 misdemeanor to possess it, a class 5 felony to make or sell it, and a class 4 felony to sell it to minors.
The merger between the state parks and wildlife divisions became official Friday through SB 208. The newly combined parks and wildlife board will meet in Denver next Friday, July 8, to discuss the merger.
Farmers and ranchers will not have to pay sales tax on their supplies any more through HB 1005. The bill repealed the sales tax on items like pesticide and fertilizer, a year after the Legislature imposed the tax as a way to avoid deeper budget cuts to schools and health care programs.
Reach Joe Hanel at [email protected].
