2,068 Rural Colorado Drivers Get Belted with Tickets for Not Buckling Up

Click It or Ticket Enforcement in 30 Counties Reminds Coloradans of Seat Belt Safety 

Denver - A week-long Click It or Ticket enforcement in rural Colorado resulted in 2,068 tickets to drivers and passengers who were not wearing seat belts.  The enforcement from Feb. 18-24, concentrated in 30 counties of rural Colorado where statistics have shown seat belt usage to be below the state average.  Enforcement took place in the following counties: Alamosa, Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Delta, Elbert, Fremont, Garfield, Grand, Gunnison, Huerfano, Kiowa, Kit Carson, La Plata, Las Animas, Lincoln, Logan, Mesa, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Morgan, Otero, Ouray, Phillips, Prowers, Routt, Washington, and Yuma.

"It is the law in Colorado to wear your seat belt," said Captain George Dingfelder, Commander of Troop 5B in Alamosa.  "Troopers were writing tickets, but they really serve as 2,068 reminders to buckle up no matter where you drive in our state.  A $65 fine is a much better reminder than rolling your vehicle and getting ejected and killed.  We want people to understand why we are serious about this message.  It's because buckling up will save lives."

In 2008, 54% of traffic deaths happened on rural Colorado roads.  Of the 296 people killed in rural crashes, 52% were not wearing seat belts, compared to 35% who died unrestrained in urban crashes.

An observational statewide seat belt study in 2009 showed that seat belt use was lowest in the Eastern and Western parts of the state with only 78% of rural drivers and passengers buckling up.  That compares to an 83% usage rate along the Front Range.

Of the 2,068 seat belt violations, 1,875 were for adults age 21 and older who were not buckled up, 110 tickets went to young people age 16 to 20, 36 were for unrestrained children age 6 to 15, 12 were for children age 4 or 5 who were not in booster seats, and 35 were written for toddlers and babies under age 4 who were not in a child safety seat.

"This stepped-up enforcement period has ended, but law enforcement agencies across the state will continue to actively enforce the state's seat belt and child passenger safety laws because they witness seat belts saving lives every day," said Pam Hutton, governor's representative for highway safety at the Colorado Department of Transportation.  "CDOT and our federal and local partners will continue to support efforts to educate the public about the importance of seat belts and proper child restraints with additional high-visibility seat belt enforcement periods."

The Colorado State Patrol and the following agencies received grants from CDOT to conduct the overtime rural Click It or Ticket enforcement. They issued the following number of seat belt tickets:

For more detailed results of the Click It or Ticket enforcement, log on to www.SeatbeltsColorado.com  and click on the "Seatbelts Enforcement Reporting" link.  Then select "Seat Belt Enforcement 2010 Rural."