CDOT highlights rising seat belt use in Pueblo County

To access the seat belt study and media kit with images of today's press event, email [email protected] - fully uploaded by 2:30 p.m.

Pueblo — Today the Colorado Department of Transportation was joined by local health and safety leaders in Pueblo to unveil a new art installation highlighting increased seat belt use in Pueblo County. Seat belt usage rates among Pueblo County vehicle occupants climbed to 79 percent in 2024, a full 12 percentage point gain from just two years ago, when the rate was just 67 percent, the lowest in the state.

The findings are part of a new 2024 Colorado Statewide Seat Belt Study released today. The study used observations of drivers and passengers in more than 4,700 vehicles at 48 locations throughout Pueblo County to determine how often drivers and passengers are buckling up. The increase continues a positive safety trend for Pueblo County. The county’s seat belt usage rate in 2023 was 74 percent.

“It’s great to see the Pueblo community continuing to make gains in seat belt use,” said Darrell Lingk, Director of the Highway Safety Office at CDOT. “Seat belts remain the most important safety feature for vehicle occupants and significantly reduce the chances of serious and fatal injuries in crashes.”

Last year, six people killed in Pueblo County crashes were not buckled.

While the positive trend in Pueblo County is encouraging, there is still room for improvement. Statewide, 88 percent of vehicle occupants buckle up, according to the just-released 2024 study. Only Pueblo and Jefferson counties had usage rates below 80 percent. Keeping the momentum going, and making even bigger gains in seat belt use was a message stressed by local safety and health leaders from the Pueblo Police Department, Colorado State Patrol, and St. Mary-Corwin Hospital.

Seat belt usage in El Paso County shot up 14 percentage points in 2024 to a 93% usage rate, an unusual change in just one year. Seat belt use in 2023 was 79% in El Paso County.

"It's really encouraging to see more and more drivers and passengers buckled up on our roads,” said Sergeant Michael Sincerbox of the Pueblo Police Department Traffic Division. “Whether it's just a few blocks or heading across town, buckling up every time we get into a vehicle is one of the best ways of ensuring our own safety, and the safety of our family and friends."

“While you can’t always control the speed or attention level of other drivers, you and your passengers can take control of your safety—just boss up and buckle up,” said Major Brian Lyons, Region 2 District Commander of the Colorado State Patrol. “Every ride, no matter how short or long, should start with a seat belt click. Make it a non-negotiable part of getting into the vehicle.”

As both an acknowledgment of Pueblo County’s progress in seat belt usage, and a reminder to keep buckling up, CDOT unveiled an installation art piece that will be displayed along the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo. The large display reminds drivers and passengers that buckling up every time they get in a vehicle not only protects their life, it preserves their ability to do all of the things that make life enjoyable.

"The neighbors we care for in our emergency department who were buckled up during a crash can often be fully recovered in a matter of days or weeks,” said G. Wagner, Emergency Department Manager at CommonSpirit St. Mary-Corwin Hospital. “That's far less often the case when someone isn't wearing a seat belt."

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 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 18 in the vehicle.

Learn more about Colorado’s seat belt laws at codot.gov/safety/seatbelts.

Crash Not Accident

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