Colorado and Wyoming Encourage Motorists to Buckle Up!

Ridealong- Durango 2021

(Lakewood, COLO) – Colonel Matthew Packard, Chief of the Colorado State Patrol and Col. Kebin Haller, Wyoming Highway Patrol are coming together to send a message to in-state and out-of-state motorists this summer season – stay buckled no matter how far you are traveling. These states are working together, along with state transportation and law enforcement agencies from Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Utah for the State2State. Buckle Up. Campaign.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seat belts reduce the risk of injury or death in a crash by 50%.

Colorado’s current seat belt use rate is 86.3%, which is below the national average of 90%. In addition, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has found that between 2017 and 2020 there were 86 deaths on Colorado highways involving people who were unbuckled and from another state. To help make Colorado roads a safer place, drivers and passengers need to do their part and buckle up no matter what state they call home.

“As the summer travel season gets rolling, we will see more travelers from neighboring states coming to Colorado. Whether a visitor or a resident, we want every occupant of a vehicle to be buckled up. It doesn’t matter how long or short the trip,” said Chief Matthew Packard, Colorado State Patrol. “We see the results of not wearing a seat belt all the time. We see the loss of life. So often, it could have been prevented.”

In 2020, Colorado State Troopers issued over 13,100 seatbelt citations. So far in 2021, 7,282 have already been issued. Seat belts not only save lives; they can significantly reduce the severity of injuries for those individuals involved in a crash.

STATE2STATE. BUCKLE UP. 

State2State. Buckle up. is a multi-state seat belt safety campaign led by local transportation and law enforcement agencies from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming. The summer-long seat belt awareness campaign launches alongside the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) and the Colorado Click It or Ticket May seat belt enforcement period.

COLORADO’S SEAT BELT LAWS

• Adults — Colorado has a secondary enforcement law for adult drivers and front-seat passengers. Drivers can be ticketed for violating the seat belt law if they are stopped for another traffic violation.
• Teens— Colorado’s Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL) law requires all drivers under 18 and their passengers, regardless of their age, to wear seat belts. This is a primary enforcement, meaning teens can be pulled over simply for not wearing a seat belt or having passengers without seat belts.
• Children— Colorado’s Child Passenger Safety law is a primary enforcement, meaning the driver can be stopped and ticketed if an officer sees an unrestrained or improperly restrained child under age 16 in the vehicle.