Preliminary data from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) indicates that Colorado’s seat belt usage rate has reached 90.7% in 2025, marking the highest level ever recorded for the state. This represents a 2.5 percentage point increase from the previous year’s rate of 88.2%. The findings are based on observations of over 106,000 vehicles at 744 sites across Colorado during a two-week period in June.
“This is extremely encouraging news,” said CDOT’s Executive Director Shoshana Lew. “We know that seat belts play vital and life-saving roles during crashes. When more than 90% of Coloradans choose to buckle up, they are choosing to keep themselves, their loved ones and their community safe. Let’s get that number to 100.”
The national average for seat belt use stood at 91.2% as of 2024, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Over the past five years, Colorado has made notable progress toward matching this national figure, with its statewide rate rising by more than five percentage points since 2015.
Analysis from CDOT shows that drivers of SUVs and vans reported the highest rates of seat belt use—93.4% and 92.9%, respectively—while pickup truck drivers were least likely to buckle up at a rate of 85.7%. Data also suggests occupants on roads with higher speed limits tend to wear seat belts more frequently.
Regionally, Grand County had the highest observed usage at 97.1%, followed by Douglas County at 95.7% and Garfield County at 94.3%. In contrast, Pueblo County had the lowest rate at 71.6%, experiencing a significant decrease compared to other counties which generally saw increases.
A breakdown by larger counties showed El Paso County with a rate of about 91.8%, Denver at nearly 92.7%, Arapahoe close to 93.6%, Jefferson just over 75%, and Adams above 92%.
“Seat belt usage rates remain lower among Colorado’s rural counties and truck drivers year over year,” said Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “In the year to come, we will continue to educate and remind these drivers about the importance of buckling up.”
NHTSA research indicates that wearing a seat belt in the front seat can reduce fatal injury risk by nearly half for passenger vehicles; this benefit increases further in light trucks.
Colorado law requires both drivers and front-seat passengers in motor vehicles—and all occupants in autocycles equipped with safety belts—to wear them whenever operating on public streets or highways.
These results focus on larger counties responsible for most traffic fatalities in Colorado; smaller counties with few deaths were not included in this analysis.
