Today, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Colorado State Patrol (CSP) and law enforcement partners are beginning the annual statewide Click It or Ticket campaign, kicking off the spring and summer driving season. The high-visibility seat belt enforcement runs until June 3. Eighty agencies statewide are participating in the crackdown.
In 2017, there were 192 unbuckled fatalities on Colorado’s roads — accounting for about half of the 383 total passenger vehicle deaths last year in Colorado. The seat belt use rate in Colorado has dropped to 84 percent, ranking our state in the bottom third for seat belt use nationally.
“One in about every 33 Colorado drivers will be involved in a crash this year,” said Darrell Lingk, director of the Office of Transportation Safety at CDOT. “Even the safest drivers can have the unexpected happen on the road and wearing a seat belt is the single most effective way to protect yourself in a crash.”