DENVER — Colorado ranks 40th out of 50 states for seat belt use – something Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Sam Cole called “the sad reality.”
A 2018 CDOT survey found that 86 percent of Coloradans buckle up, a number that’s below the national average of 90 percent. And those 14 percent of people who don’t wear seat belts account for more than half of the traffic fatalities in the state.
Each year, Cole said about 30 of those unbuckled deaths happen when the passenger is in the backseat.
Colorado does have a seat belt law, but it’s a secondary offense, meaning a driver can’t be pulled over just for not being buckled up. And, it doesn’t apply to backseat passengers if they’re over 16 and the person driving is legally an adult.
Raeann Hern’s 16-year-old daughter was killed after she was ejected from the backseat of a car that was involved in a rollover crash. She was not wearing her seat belt at the time.
“It only takes a second to make the wrong choice and it can affect your life for the rest of your life or somebody else’s and you really don’t want to do that,” Hern said.
9NEWS is working on a report focused on Colorado's seat belt law. We ask that you weigh in via our poll below: do you always wear your seat belt? What about if you're in the backseat? What if you're in a friend's car or an Uber?
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