Colorado State Patrol launches new campaign to promote better seatbelt usage
LAMAR, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado State Patrol (CSP) launched a new campaign encouraging drivers to always wear a seatbelt when they're in a vehicle. This comes after seeing a record number of fatalities on Colorado roadways linked to people not wearing seatbelts.
The campaign, called “The Cycle Stops Here,” was prompted by a Lamar Police Captain after seeing all too many lives taken on the roads that he says could have been prevented by just wearing a seatbelt.
While CSP promotes seatbelt use for all drivers, this campaign was specific to southeastern Colorado due to the increase in fatalities on eastern roads.
In September 2021, four teens died when their SUV was hit by a semi-truck just south of Wiley in Prowers County.
CSP says the fatalities in that crash could've been prevented had any of the teens been wearing seatbelts.
“That is one of the things that sparked this," SGT Troy Kessler with CSP said. “If people wear their seatbelt it increases chance of survival by 50 percent at least."
Looking at data from 2021, there were 672 fatalities across the state. Data shows 350 of those deaths resulted because people weren't wearing seat belts.
The leading five counties in Colorado for fatal and injury crashes investigated by the Colorado State Patrol with at least one occupant who was unrestrained or improperly restrained were:
- Weld County
- El Paso County
- Adams County
- Jefferson County
- Larimer County
All the more reason why state troopers want people to buckle up when behind the wheel.
“Instead of just doing this because it is the law, we as an agency care about everyone behind the wheel," SGT Kessler said.
Until April 20, CSP, the Colorado Department of Transportation, and 33 law enforcement agencies across the state will participate in the first seatbelt enforcement period of 2022.
