Statewide Click It or Ticket enforcement begins Monday

La campaña de Abrochado o Multado en Colorado empieza el lunes en español

Statewide — From May 12 to June 1, the Colorado Department of Transportation will support Colorado State Patrol and 39 local law enforcement agencies for the largest seat belt campaign of the year. As warmer weather brings more drivers to the road, the risk of traffic crashes rises. To help prevent injuries and fatalities, all vehicle occupants are urged to wear their seat belts and prioritize safety on every trip.

During the 21 day enforcement period, law enforcement will increase patrols and focus on issuing citations to unbuckled drivers as part of the national Click It or Ticket effort. Drivers with unbuckled passengers can also be ticketed. Last year 1,782 citations were issued, including 74 for unrestrained children.

So far this year, 49 unbuckled vehicle occupants have lost their lives on Colorado roads, making up 38% of all vehicle occupant fatalities. The CIOT campaign has been extremely successful in raising seat belt use across the country. The seat belt use rate in Colorado is 88%, up from 79% in 2005.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that wearing a seat belt in the front seat of a passenger vehicle can reduce the risk of fatal injury by 45% and the risk of moderate to critical injury by 50%.

“For every excuse, there is only one response for why troopers want you to wear a seatbelt. No other safety feature in your vehicle is more effective in reducing your risk of dying in a crash than wearing a seat belt,” said Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “The reality is that 186 people died in Colorado in 2024 while not wearing a seat belt. Their lives might have been saved if they decided to buckle up.”

“We see traffic deaths increase during the summer months on Colorado roads,” said CDOT’s Office of Transportation Safety Director Darrell Lingk. “Drivers need to buckle up at all times, even when they think it’s safe. Seat belts save lives in all situations, including in trucks and on rural roads.”

During the April seat belt enforcement period, law enforcement officers issued 1,108 citations for seat belt violations. The law enforcement agencies that issued the most citations during the enforcement were Westminster Police Department (78), Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (59), and Larimer County Sheriff’s Office (47).

After the May enforcement period, the next seat belt enforcement will take place from July 21 to Aug. 1. Learn more about CDOT’s latest seat belt PSAs, highlighting the most unforgiving laws of all — physics.

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 may face additional charges if the law is not followed and the child is injured as a result.

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.

Crash Not Accident

Note to reporters: Crashes are no accident — they are preventable. We would appreciate you saying 'crash' instead of 'accident' when reporting.