It seems to be common sense that everyone should wear a seatbelt while seated in a moving vehicle in Colorado? But does everyone actually wear a seatbelt in Colorado? Unfortunately, no. A lot of drivers and passengers in Colorado do not wear seatbelts. I remember my own mother used to say I am not wearing a seatbelt because it is uncomfortable. To this very day, I still have to remind her to wear a seatbelt. And being a car accident attorney for 32 years and seeing people die just because they were not wearing a seatbelt.

Here are the statistics in Colorado:

  • Colorado’s seat belt use rate is 86.3 percent — well below the national use average of 90 percent.
  • In 2021, 232 unbuckled vehicle occupants were killed on Colorado roadways, a 12% increase over 2020.
  • An estimated 70 lives could be saved every year if everyone in Colorado buckled up.
  • Seat belts reduce the risk of injury or death in a crash by 50 percent.
  • In 2018, five of the six counties with the lowest seat belt use in Colorado were rural.

See the following stats from the Colorado Department of transportation: https://www.codot.gov/safety/seatbelts#

Colorado is well below the national average of 90%. In other words, 90% of Americans use their seatbelts when driving or as passengers in vehicles, but those drivers and passengers in Colorado only account for 86.3 percent use of seatbelts. This is not a Colorado statistic that we should be proud of. We can be proud of our mountains, our rivers, our beautiful vistas but when it comes to driving safety, we fall below the national average.

WHY SHOULD EVERYONE WEAR A SEATBELT?

First of all, everyone should be wearing a seatbelt in Colorado. Seatbelts do save lives. I remember as a child riding in the backseat and my grandmother had no seatbelts at all in the backseat because they were not mandatory. My grandmother would be driving and she would only have a lap belt on as shoulder belts were not common. Now we know that if you wear a lap belt only and are in a car crash, you can be left paralyzed by the jackknife effect of the bodily action when struck by another vehicle.

SEATBELT

First, seatbelts keep you in place and prevent you from flying through the windshield or bouncing around inside the car. Seatbelts also prevent you from striking the steering wheel or dashboard. If you are ejected from a vehicle, your chances of dying are much, much greater than if you are properly seat belted and stay in the vehicle. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, a seatbelt will reduce the risk of serious injury or death by up to 50%. Wearing seatbelts prevents serious head trauma, broken bones, and spinal cord injuries.

These are all very good reasons to always buckle up when entering any type of vehicle. Even school buses are now being equipped with seatbelts to safeguard children riding to school. The NHTSA federally requires school buses now to have lap/shoulder seatbelts if the bus weighs 10,000 pounds or less. They leave it up to the individual states to decide whether to require seatbelts on larger school buses. In my opinion, there should be a major push to require seatbelts on all school buses in order to protect our children. England has required seatbelts in all new school buses since 2001.

Basically, the statistics show that seatbelts save lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these are the important facts we know about seatbelt use:

  • Most drivers and passengers killed in crashes are unrestrained. 53% of drivers and passengers killed in car crashes in 2009 were not wearing restraints.
  • Seat belts dramatically reduce risk of death and serious injury. Among drivers and front-seat passengers, seat belts reduce the risk of death by 45%, and cut the risk of serious injury by 50%.
  • Seat belts prevent drivers and passengers from being ejected during a crash. People not wearing a seat belt are 30 times more likely to be ejected from a vehicle during a crash. More than 3 out of 4 people who are ejected during a fatal crash die from their injuries.
  • Seat belts save thousands of lives each year, and increasing use would save thousands more. Seat belts saved almost 13,000 lives in 2009. If all drivers and passengers had worn seat belts that year, almost 4,000 more people would be alive today.
  • In one year alone, crash deaths and injuries to drivers and passengers cost $70 billion in medical and lost work costs.

https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/seatbeltbrief/index.html#:~:text=Among%20drivers%20and%20front%2Dseat,of%20serious%20injury%20by%2050%25.

Bottom line is that we should all use our seatbelts no matter what. If you do not, you are going to be injured more severely or will die. In many states, if you do not wear a seatbelt and sue for damages, your damages can be reduced by the judge or jury. If you have any questions or issues surrounding seatbelt use, please contact me at Allen Accident Law.