• Original Reporting
  • References

The Trust Project

Original Reporting This article contains firsthand information gathered by reporters. This includes directly interviewing sources and analyzing primary source documents.
References This article includes a list of source material, including documents and people, so you can follow the story further.
Illustration of a cityscape featuring buildings such as a pharmacy, supermarket, bank and coffee shop, with cars on the road, a pedestrian observing street signs about Colorado motorcycle law, and an airplane flying overhead.
(Provided by Gigafact)

No.

Only drivers and front-seat passengers are required to wear seatbelts under Colorado law. Wearing seatbelts is mandatory in front seats while a motor vehicle is being operated on any Colorado street or highway. 

Adult passengers who cannot use a seatbelt because of a diagnosed disability are exempt from the law, along with passengers in vehicles that aren’t required by federal law to have safety belts, such as large buses. 

Beginning Jan. 1, children under age 18 must wear seatbelts regardless of their position in the car. Children up to age 9 must use a car or booster seat, and those seats must be installed in a backseat if the vehicle has one. 

Wearing a seatbelt is the most effective way to avoid serious injuries in a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

Thirty-three states plus the District of Columbia require backseat passengers to buckle up. 

See full source list below.

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References:

Colorado Revised Statutes 42-4-237, Colorado Legal Resources, accessed in January 2025. Source link.

Seat Belt Requirements and Other Occupant Protection Standards for Buses, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Jan. 7, 2020. Source link.

New law will take effect Jan. 1, 2025 to keep kids safe, Colorado Department of Transportation, accessed in January 2025. Source link.

Colorado Child Passenger Safety Law, Colorado Department of Transportation, accessed in January 2025. Source link.

Seat Belt Law, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in January 2025. Source link.

Seat Belts, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, accessed in January 2025. Source link.

Seat Belts, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, September 2024. Source link.

Type of Story: Fact-Check

Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.

Por recently graduated from CU Boulder with a master’s degree in journalism and is interested in writing about the environment and exploring local stories. When not working on some form of writing, Por is either looking for Thai food or petting...