Colorado's annual "Click It Or Ticket" campaign is underway.

I can tell you first-hand having your seat belt buckled can save your life. On my last trip home the truck I was driving and the van I was towing rolled over four times after sliding off the highway. I walked away without a scratch. No question If I didn't have my seat belt on the outcome would have been much different.

The Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado State Patrol are cranking up their annual "Click It or Ticket" campaign. During the busy summer driving season, law enforcement will be writing tickets if you're observed without one on. The program runs through June 3rd.

Last year in Colorado 192 person lost their lives on the road. The number's troubling when you consider that seat belt use in Colorado has dropped to about 84%.  When you consider Colorado's weather and terrain you wonder what people are thinking? Sliding off the road just about anywhere in this state could cost you your life. And most persons killed in rollover crashes are unbuckled and thrown from the vehicle.

Colorado seat belt laws read as follows...

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 age, to wear seat belts. This is a primary enforcement, meaning teens can be pulled over simply for not wearing a seat belt 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 age 16 in the vehicle.

So don't risk a ticket this summer. More importantly, protect yourself and your passengers by making sure everyone has their seat belt buckled everytime you hit the road. Disaster can strike at any time. I had no warning. Something broke on the trailer I was pulling and before I could react I was upside down and rolling down a hill. I escaped injury because I had on my set belt. No doubt about it.

 

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