Traffic deaths are on the increase in Colorado.
That’s according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Transportation. In a release, the department says transportation-related deaths have increased by almost 30 percent between 2014 and last year. CDOT Executive Director Michael Lewis says the increase comes from careless driving practices like not wearing seatbelts or by driving while impaired or on the phone. Lewis says Colorado’s lax enforcement on seatbelt use and its absence of a hands-free cell phone law don’t help solve the state’s traffic safety problems. The department says an estimated 58 lives could be saved annually if every passenger vehicle occupant wore a seatbelt.
