(PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo.) — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) was joined by law enforcement partners and health leaders to unveil a new art installation highlighting increased seat belt use in Pueblo County, and encouraging the trend to continue. According to CDOT, seat belt usage rates in Pueblo County climbed to 79% in 2024, a full 12 percentage point gain from just two years ago, when the rate was just 67%, the lowest in the state. The findings are part of a new 2024 Colorado Statewide Seat Belt Study released on Tuesday. Sept. 24. The study used observations of drivers and passengers in more than 4,700 vehicles at 48 locations throughout Pueblo County to determine how often drivers and passengers are buckling up. “It’s great to see the Pueblo community continuing to make gains in seat belt use,” said Darrell Lingk, Director of the Highway Safety Office at CDOT. “Seat belts remain the most important safety feature for vehicle occupants and significantly reduce the chances of serious and fatal injuries in crashes.” While the positive trend in Pueblo County is encouraging, CDOT said there is still room for improvement. Statewide, 88% of vehicle occupants buckle up, according to the just-released 2024 study. Only Pueblo and Jefferson counties had usage rates below 80%. To encourage Puebloans to continue the upward trend, and to celebrate the strides already made, CDOT unveiled an installation art piece on Tuesday that will be displayed along the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk. The large display reminds drivers and passengers that buckling up every time they get in a vehicle not only protects their life, it preserves their ability to do all of the things that make life enjoyable. Courtesy: Colorado Department of TransportationCourtesy: Colorado Department of TransportationCourtesy: Colorado Department of Transportation "The neighbors we care for in our emergency department who were buckled up during a crash can often be fully recovered in a matter of days or weeks,” said G. Wagner, Emergency Department Manager at CommonSpirit St. Mary-Corwin Hospital. “That's far less often the case when someone isn't wearing a seat belt." Colorado’s seat belt laws Colorado law requires the driver and every front-seat passenger of a motor vehicle to wear a seat belt whenever the vehicle is in operation on a street or highway. 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 the age of 18 in the vehicle.