Colorado law enforcement agencies are cracking down on seat belt usage with increased patrols this month.

In Colorado, the seat belt use rate is nearly 91%, yet nearly half of all passenger vehicle fatalities involve people who were not wearing their seat belt, according to a news release from the state transportation department.

“Buckling up should be an automatic habit for all drivers,” Colorado Department of Transportation Director Shoshana Lew said in a statement. “Increasing seat belt use is one of the most important steps we can take to reduce fatalities in Colorado.”

This month, the Colorado State Patrol and 48 local law enforcement agencies will be focused on issuing citations for unbuckled drivers and passengers as part of the national “Click it or ticket” campaign, the news release states.

In the past 5 years, more than 1,000 people who were not wearing a seat belt have died in passenger vehicle crashes, according to state data. So far this year, 40 unbuckled passengers and drivers have died on Colorado’s roads.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of severe injury or death by up to 65%.

During a similar seat belt enforcement period in April, law enforcement officers issued 770 tickets for seat belt violations, including 27 citations for improperly restrained children, according to the news release.

“No other safety feature in your vehicle is more effective in reducing your risk of dying in a crash than wearing a seat belt, and it takes about three seconds,” State Patrol Chief Col. Matthew Packard said in a statement. “The reality is that 191 people died in Colorado in 2025 while not wearing a seat belt. Their lives might have been saved if they invested three seconds in safety and buckled up.”