Bent County is targeted this week as part of a special campaign to enforce seatbelt laws.
The Colorado State Patrol and 21 rural law enforcement agencies are participating in seat belt enforcement Feb. 11-17.
The Click It or Ticket campaign takes place in Alamosa, Bent, Delta, Elbert, Garfield, Gunnison, Huerfano, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Montezuma, Montrose, Morgan, Otero, Prowers, Washington, and Yuma counties.
“We know that regular seatbelt use is the single most effective way to prevent injuries and death in a crash,” said Sheriff Gerry Oyen, Bent County Sheriff’s Office.
“Since I began my career in law enforcement 42 years ago, I’ve seen a drastic change in the effectiveness of seat belts and people’s attitudes towards wearing them. Nowadays there’s no excuse not to wear one. Our goal is to get more people buckled up in rural Colorado.”
“We’re focusing our enforcement efforts in these rural counties because our studies indicate that seat belt use is very low in these areas,” said Pamela Hutton, CDOT chief engineer and governor’s representative for highway safety.
“Living in a rural county myself, I know the sense of security rural drivers feel and the temptation not to wear a seat belt, but with more than half of Colorado’s fatalities occurring in rural areas, it is extremely important to buckle up no matter where you drive.”
Coloradans driving or riding on rural roadways face a much greater risk of being injured or killed than do those in urban or suburban areas. In 2007, 57% of traffic fatalities occurred in rural Colorado. One contributor to higher fatalities is a lower seat belt use in rural parts of the state. An observational seat belt study conducted in 2008 showed that seat belt use is lowest in Eastern Colorado with only 77.4% of rural drivers and passengers buckling up. That compares to an 83.6% seat belt use rate along the urban Front Range. Seat belt use is 79.4% in the Western region of the state. The overall statewide seat belt use rate is 81.7%.
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Bent County is targeted this week as part of a special campaign to enforce seatbelt laws.
The Colorado State Patrol and 21 rural law enforcement agencies are participating in seat belt enforcement Feb. 11-17.
The Click It or Ticket campaign takes place in Alamosa, Bent, Delta, Elbert, Garfield, Gunnison, Huerfano, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Montezuma, Montrose, Morgan, Otero, Prowers, Washington, and Yuma counties.
“We know that regular seatbelt use is the single most effective way to prevent injuries and death in a crash,” said Sheriff Gerry Oyen, Bent County Sheriff’s Office.
“Since I began my career in law enforcement 42 years ago, I’ve seen a drastic change in the effectiveness of seat belts and people’s attitudes towards wearing them. Nowadays there’s no excuse not to wear one. Our goal is to get more people buckled up in rural Colorado.”
“We’re focusing our enforcement efforts in these rural counties because our studies indicate that seat belt use is very low in these areas,” said Pamela Hutton, CDOT chief engineer and governor’s representative for highway safety.
“Living in a rural county myself, I know the sense of security rural drivers feel and the temptation not to wear a seat belt, but with more than half of Colorado’s fatalities occurring in rural areas, it is extremely important to buckle up no matter where you drive.”
Coloradans driving or riding on rural roadways face a much greater risk of being injured or killed than do those in urban or suburban areas. In 2007, 57% of traffic fatalities occurred in rural Colorado. One contributor to higher fatalities is a lower seat belt use in rural parts of the state. An observational seat belt study conducted in 2008 showed that seat belt use is lowest in Eastern Colorado with only 77.4% of rural drivers and passengers buckling up. That compares to an 83.6% seat belt use rate along the urban Front Range. Seat belt use is 79.4% in the Western region of the state. The overall statewide seat belt use rate is 81.7%.
