Colorado’s seat belt usage rate hits 90.7% for first time in state’s history

Colorado's seat belt usage rate hits 90.7% for first time in state's history Sept. 29, 2025 - Colorado - 2025 Colorado Statewide Seat Belt Study reveals new statewide data https://www.codot.gov/news/2025/september/colorado-seat-belt-usage-rate-hits-90-percent https://www.codot.gov/@@site-logo/siteLogo.png

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Sept. 29, 2025 - Colorado - 2025 Colorado Statewide Seat Belt Study reveals new statewide data

El uso del cinturón de seguridad llega a 90.7 % por primera vez en la historia del estado en español

Read the 2025 Colorado Statewide Seat-Belt Study Results to learn more about the data.

Statewide - Preliminary data from the Colorado Department of Transportation's 2025 Seat Belt Survey shows that Colorado's seat belt usage rate is 90.7% - the highest ever recorded. This rate is a 2.5% improvement from Colorado's 2024 seat belt usage rate of 88.2%. The study observed a total of 106,087 vehicles across 744 site locations, over a two-week period from June 9 to June 22, 2025.

"This is extremely encouraging news," said CDOT's Executive Director Shoshana Lew. "We know that seat belts play vital and life-saving roles during crashes. When more than 90% of Coloradans choose to buckle up, they are choosing to keep themselves, their loved ones and their community safe. Let's get that number to 100."

As of 2024, the national seat belt usage rate sits at 91.2%, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The improvements made in Colorado over the past five years show significant steps in reaching the national rate. Since 2015, the statewide rate has increased 5.5% from 85.2%.

A CDOT graph of Colorado seat belt use rate by year. 2025: 90.69%, 2024: 88.19%, 2023: 88.6%, 2022: 87%, 2021: 86.6%, 2020: 86.3%.

The study found that SUV drivers (93.4%) and van drivers (92.9%) are the most frequent seat belt users, while pick-up truck drivers are the least frequent at 85.7%. Overall, as vehicles travel along roads with higher posted speed limits, occupants are more likely to wear their seat belts.

Regionally, seat belt use was highest in Grand (97.1%), Douglas (95.7%) and Garfield (94.3%) counties, and lowest in Pueblo (71.6%), Jefferson (75.3%) and Morgan (79%) counties. Most counties saw an increase in seat belt use in 2025, with Pueblo County standing out as a notable exception with a 7.7% decrease.

A CDOT graph of Colorado seat belt use rate by highest populated counties. El Paso: 91.76%, Denver: 92.73%, Arapahoe: 93.58%, Jefferson: 75.30%, Adams: 92.13%

"Seat belt usage rates remain lower among Colorado's rural counties and truck drivers year over year," said Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. "In the year to come, we will continue to educate and remind these drivers about the importance of buckling up."

According to NHTSA, wearing a seat belt in the front seat of a passenger vehicle can reduce your chance of a fatal injury in the event of a crash by 45%. In a light truck, this number increases to 60%. By buckling up, a driver or passenger is making a two-second decision to protect their life.

Learn more about CDOT's latest seat belt PSAs, highlighting the most unforgiving laws of all - physics.

Statewide Seat Belt Usage by County

• Adams: 92.13%
• Arapahoe: 93.58%
• Boulder: 92.71%
• Chaffee: 93.03%
• Costilla: 83.64%
• Delta: 86.87%
• Denver: 92.73%
• Douglas: 95.74%
• Eagle: 93.95%
• El Paso: 91.76%
• Fremont: 90.55%
• Garfield: 94.3%
• Grand: 97.12%
• Jefferson: 75.3%
• La Plata: 86.77%
• Larimer: 88.35%
• Las Animas: 80.9%
• Logan: 85.91%
• Mesa: 91.64%
• Montezuma: 86.5%
• Montrose: 86.77%
• Morgan: 79.03%
• Otero: 81.21%
• Park: 94.05%
• Pueblo: 71.58%
• Weld: 79.84%

These 26 counties represent 85% of all traffic deaths in the state. Smaller counties with relatively few traffic deaths were not included in the report.

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 seat belt use has increased from 72% to 91%. For more information about seat belt safety and enforcement citation numbers, visit SeatBeltsColorado.com.