What does “DUR” Stand for in Colorado Law?

DUR is short for the Colorado crime of driving under restraint. A person is DUR when he/she drives while his/her license has been suspended, revoked, or denied. It does not matter whether the driver is a Colorado resident.

1. What are the penalties in Colorado for DUR?

Per CRS 42-2-138, the penalties for driving under restraint in Colorado grow steeper if a person’s license was suspended due to a DUI, DWAI, or UDD.

If no drugs or alcohol was involved, then DUR is a class A traffic infraction carrying $15 to $100. A first offense carries a year-long license suspension. Successive convictions within five years carry a three-year-long license suspension.¹

Meanwhile, driving under restraint if the license was suspended due to driving under the influence is a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense. A first offense carries:

• 10 days to 90 days in jail, and
• $150 to $300 in fines, and
• 1-year license suspension.²

And subsequent convictions within five years carry::

• 10 days to 90 days of jail time, and
• $500 to $3,000, and
• 4-year license suspension.³

2. Are there legal defenses to DUR in Colorado?

There are various ways to defend against allegations of driving under restraint. The best strategies turn on the unique circumstances of the case and the available evidence.

Potential arguments include:

• the defendant never received notice that his/her driver’s license was revoked or suspended,
• the defendant reasonably did not know that his/her driver’s license was under restraint,
• the DMV made a clerical error that wrongly showed the defendant’s driver’s license was under restraint, or
• the defendant knowingly drove under restraint but only because of an emergency.

Note that the court can still fine and jail defendants who prove that they drove under restraint only because it was an emergency. But if the defendant makes a good argument that anyone in his/her position would have driven under restraint, it is unlikely that the court will jail the defendant.

3. What are the penalties for DUI in Colorado?

The Colorado crime of driving under the influence (DUI) is a typically punished as a misdemeanor.

A first-time offense usually carries:

• five days to one year in jail,
• a fine of $600 to 1,000,
• driver’s license suspension of up to nine months, and
• 48 to 96 hours of community service.⁴

Note that defendants will be sentenced as a repeat offender if their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.15% or higher.

DUI is slightly different from DWAI, which is short for driving while ability impaired. A person can be convicted of DWAI whenever they are driving impaired by drugs or alcohol, even if their BAC is within the legal range of less than 0.08%.

A first-time offense of DWAI usually carries:

• two days to 180 days in jail,
• a fine of $200 to 500,
• 24 to 48 hours of community service, and
• eight points on your DMV driving record.⁵

Note that a first-time DWAI conviction does not carry automatic driver’s license suspension.

4. What is the offense of driving without a license?

CRS 42-2-101 makes it a traffic infraction to drive in Colorado without a current and valid driver’s license. Penalties include $10 to $115 in fines.⁶

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