The recent crackdown on vehicle drivers and passengers without seat belts resulted in 1,695 citations from 59 law enforcement agencies across Colorado, the state’s transportation department announced.

“Statistics show there’s a 1 in 33 chance you’ll be in a car crash in a given year, and wearing a seat belt is the best way to prevent injury or death,” said Shoshana Lew, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The “Click It or Ticket” heightened enforcement period ran from July 12-19. For adult drivers, failure to wear a seat belt is a secondary offense for which police may issue a ticket if they stop a vehicle for another traffic violation. For teenage drivers under 18, it is a primary offense.

CDOT noted that last year, 196 people who were not wearing seat belts died in car crashes in the state. Those individuals represented more than half of traffic fatalities, even though people who do not wear seat belts constitute an estimated 12% of drivers and passengers.

During the enforcement week, the Colorado State Patrol and Loveland Police Department reported the highest number of violations. “We had a multitude of contacts, arrests, warrants and citations for violations not counted here,” Loveland’s department wrote. Just under 15% of the 222 reported violations in the city involved people driving without a valid license or without insurance. 

Elsewhere, the Greeley Police Department found four people with arrest warrants among its 154 violations. The Castle Rock Police Department reported stopping a moving truck on Interstate 25 that had a child riding in the cargo portion. “Parent had put him in there due to misbehaving and left rear door open,” the department explained.