From July 21 to August 1, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) joined with the Colorado State Patrol and 58 local law enforcement agencies for a seat belt enforcement period across the state. This was the third Click It or Ticket campaign in 2025, with increased patrols focused on enforcing updated seat belt and car seat laws.
Preliminary figures show that officers issued 1,593 citations during this period, marking a 116% increase compared to last year’s July Wave enforcement when 737 drivers were cited. The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office led with 217 citations, followed by the Aurora Police Department with 180 and Loveland Police Department with 151. The Colorado State Patrol reported citing 362 drivers.
In July, there were 21 fatalities involving unbuckled occupants, making it the second-highest month for such deaths in 2025. March remains the highest so far this year with 23 unbuckled fatalities. Last year, more than half of crash fatalities in Colorado involved people not wearing seat belts. Since a peak of 242 unbuckled fatalities in 2022, these numbers have been declining; as of July 31, unbuckled fatalities are down by over fourteen percent compared to the same period last year—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.”
Colorado’s child passenger safety law changed on January 1, raising the age requirement for mandatory seat belt use from under sixteen years old to under eighteen years old. Children must now use a car or booster seat until their ninth birthday when riding in passenger vehicles; those under two years old and weighing less than forty pounds must be placed in rear-facing car seats. Parents and caregivers are responsible for compliance and may be ticketed if they fail to ensure proper restraint.
“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.”
More information about these regulations can be found at the Colorado Child Passenger Safety Law webpage.
CDOT has released new public service announcements about seat belt safety that emphasize physical laws over legal ones.
State law requires all drivers and front-seat passengers—and all occupants of autocycles equipped with safety belts—to wear them whenever traveling on streets or highways.
Fines for failing to buckle up start at $65 in Colorado; parents or caregivers who do not properly restrain children face fines starting at $82 as well as possible additional charges if an injury occurs due to noncompliance.
