'Do Your Duty, Buckle That Booty': CDOT Gets Creative With Important Safety Message
BRIGHTON, Colo. (CBS4) - A statewide campaign to get people to use seat belts when traveling in vehicles recently concluded, but Colorado officials are still doing everything they can to try to encourage people to follow the law. That includes getting a little creative with their messaging on roadside signs.
This week, Darcy McGilvray captured an image of one such sign when she was on Interstate 70 in the Brighton area. "DO YOUR DUTY BUCKLE THAT BOOTY" the sign read.
The brains behind the sign is Sam Cole with the Colorado Department of Transportation. Here are a couple of the other signs he has featured on Colorado roadways.
Some other messages have included:
- Buckle up. Cuz I said so. Love Mom
- Awww Snap! Your seatbelt
- Jingle belts, Jingle belts; Buckle all the way
- Not buckled? We're telling Santa
- Save your giblets / Buckle up
The latest sign that's out on the roadways can always be seen here at the top right: codot.gov/safety.
Cole says CDOT's recent Click It or Ticket campaign resulted in citations for 5,051 drivers who violated seat belt laws. A total of 244 of those drivers had improperly restrained children under 15 in their vehicle. The Click It or Ticket campaign ran from May 20 to June 2.
CDOT says 14 percent of Colorado drivers don't wear their seat belts. Last year 220 passenger vehicle deaths in Colorado involved unbuckled drivers and passengers.
"Using a seat belt is your best defense in a crash. You never know when a crash can happen, so it's best to buckle up every time you get in a car no matter how short the trip. In 2017, an estimated 70 lives could have been saved in Colorado if everyone buckled up," CDOT Director Shoshana Lew said in a prepared statement.