Seat belt enforcement period results in 1,593 citations statewide
News Release
Statewide — From July 21 to Aug. 1, the Colorado Department of Transportation supported the Colorado State Patrol and 58 local law enforcement agencies across Colorado for the July Wave seat belt enforcement period. This was the third Click It or Ticket enforcement of 2025. During the 12-day period, law enforcement increased patrols and focused on issuing citations to unbuckled drivers, following updates to Colorado’s seat belt and car seat laws.
According to preliminary data, 1,593 citations were given during the enforcement period. The 1,593 citations are a 116% increase from last year’s July Wave Click It or Ticket enforcement, during which 737 drivers were cited. The agencies with the highest citations were the Larimer County Sheriff's Office (217 citations), the Aurora Police Department (180 citations), and the Loveland Police Department (151 citations). In addition, Colorado State Patrol cited 362 drivers.
Tragically, 21 unbuckled fatalities occurred in July, making it the second-highest month for 2025. March has had the most so far, with 23 unbuckled fatalities.
Last year, 50.5% of crash fatalities in Colorado were unbuckled, a harsh reminder of the necessity of proper seat belt use. Since hitting a peak of 242 unbuckled fatalities in 2022, the numbers have been steadily declining. As of July 31, unbuckled fatalities in 2025 have dropped 14.2% compared to the same period in 2024, decreasing from 120 to 103.
“It’s encouraging to see unbuckled fatalities decline this year,” said CDOT’s Executive Director Shoshana Lew. “However, Colorado’s seat belt usage rate is still below the national average of 91%, and far too many lives are lost each year that could have been saved simply by buckling up. Taking just two seconds to put on a seat belt could save your life.”
Updates to Colorado's child passenger safety law took effect Jan. 1, 2025, raising the age requirement for seat belt use from under 16 years of age to under 18 years of age. The updated law also requires children to use a car seat or booster seat until their 9th birthday when riding in a passenger vehicle, and children under the age of 2 and below 40 pounds are required to sit in a rear-facing car seat. Parents and caregivers are responsible for ensuring proper restraint and will be ticketed if they fail to do so. More information about these laws can be found on the Colorado Child Passenger Safety Law webpage.
“It is the responsibility of parents and caregivers to ensure that any child in their vehicle is properly restrained,” said Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “Not only is it the law, but it could also be the difference between life, serious injury or death.”
Colorado’s seat belt laws
Colorado law requires the driver and every front seat passenger of a motor vehicle and the driver and every passenger in an autocycle equipped with a safety belt system to wear a seat belt whenever the vehicle is in operation on a street or highway.
- 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 ages, to wear seat belts. This is a primary enforcement, meaning teens can be pulled over simply for not wearing a seatbelt 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 the age of 18 in the vehicle.
Fines for not buckling up in Colorado start at $65, and parents or caregivers caught with an improperly restrained child can receive a minimum fine of $82. Caregivers can face additional charges if the law is not followed, and the child is injured.
Vehicle collisions are a leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13. Last year in Colorado, 78% of car seats inspected by child passenger safety technicians were not being used correctly or were not installed properly. Parents and caregivers can learn more about Colorado child passenger safety laws, recommendations and recalls at CarSeatsColorado.com.
About Click It or Ticket
Click It or Ticket is a nationwide campaign from NHTSA. Since Click It or Ticket was introduced in Colorado in 2002, statewide seatbelt use has increased from 72% to 88%. For more information about seat belt safety and enforcement citation numbers, visit SeatBeltsColorado.com.
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