Colorado road tests are administered by the DMV. You need 50 supervised hours before testing — 10 at night. Colorado has a 12-month permit hold requirement, one of the longer holds in the country. You can’t shorten it.

What the test covers

Colorado road tests take place on public streets near the DMV location. The examiner rides along and scores you on a standard form.

Skills tested:

Left and right turns at intersections
Stopping at signs and signals
Lane changes
Parallel parking
Backing
Speed and following distance
Mirror and observation habits

Colorado tests parallel parking.

What gets people failed

Not stopping fully. Complete stop at every stop sign. Colorado examiners are consistent about this. Rolling through is a deduction.

Parallel parking errors. Hitting the boundary markers, mounting the curb, or ending far from the curb are common failures. Practice until it’s repeatable.

Blind spot checks. Every lane change needs a signal, a mirror check, and a head turn. The head turn is what people skip. Examiners specifically watch for it.

Turning too wide. Left turns should end in the leftmost available lane. Right turns should end in the rightmost lane. Wide turns that drift into center lanes are a consistent deduction.

Speed. Colorado residential streets are typically 25 mph. Going 30 feels normal and costs points on test day.

The 12-month hold

Colorado’s 12-month hold is firm. Use it to accumulate real driving experience across different conditions. The altitude and weather variation in Colorado — summer thunderstorms, winter snow, mountain roads for those near the Front Range — give you opportunities that most states don’t have. Get comfortable driving in rain before the test, not just in dry conditions.

Before the test

Bring:

Valid Colorado learner’s permit
Driving log showing 50 hours (10 night)
Vehicle registration and current insurance
Parent or guardian if under 18

Tracking your hours

Colorado’s night hours use a sunset-based definition that varies daily by location. Sunset in Denver ranges from around 4:40 PM in December to 8:30 PM in June.

Moda tracks Colorado hours and applies the correct sunset for your location. Download on the App Store

Full Colorado permit requirements: Colorado permit hours

Stop manually tracking hours. Moda logs driving automatically.

Auto-detects night driving, exports DMV forms, and syncs across family phones.