Colorado law officers are warning parents to buckle up their children after a statewide seat belt patrol resulted in numerous tickets because kids weren’t in car seats or seat belts.
In one week, state and local law officers wrote 1,299 seat belt citations. Those included 61 people cited for not having children properly buckled.
The statewide patrols were done mostly at night, when the risk of being involved in a serious crash is higher. In 2013, 59 percent of nationwide traffic fatalities that happened at night involved people not wearing seat belts.
“Children rely on adults to ensure they are buckled up every trip every time,” said Colorado Department of Transportation spokesperson Sam Cole. “Not buckling children into a restraint can have tragic consequences, even for the best of drivers.”
The minimum fine for a seat belt violation is $65, but it is $82 for having an unrestrained child.
The state transportation department partnered with the Colorado State Patrol and about 50 local law enforcement agencies for the seat belt patrols from July 20-26.
The agencies with the most citations, besides the state patrol, were Lakewood, Colorado Springs, Boulder and Loveland police departments.
In Colorado, law officers cannot pull over a vehicle just to check seat belts, but they can write seat belt citations after stopping vehicles on other traffic violations.
