HARLEM VALLEY — The New York State Police are buckling down on drivers who choose not to buckle up. It’s all part of their ongoing Buckle Up New York — Click It or Ticket Campaign.
The program kicks into high gear this month as troopers prepare for the holidays, which
historically is a dangerous time for drivers. Thanksgiving weekend begins the winter travel season in New York, and troopers are ready with a zero-tolerance seat belt enforcement blitz that includes safety restraint checkpoints and plenty of patrols.
“I urge everyone driving on our state’s roadways this holiday period to drive carefully, don’t drive impaired and buckle up each and every trip, night or day,� Troop K Commander Major William Carey said. “To lose a loved one is a terrible thing to experience, especially during a family holiday; but to lose one’s life when it might have been saved by taking two seconds to buckle up is truly senseless.�
According to Carey, during Thanksgiving 2006, 457 passenger vehicle occupants died in motor vehicle crashes, 266 of those during the nighttime hours. Of those, almost half died with their seat belts unfastened.
“People die needlessly in traffic crashes every year,� Carey added. “State troopers, sheriff’s deputies and police officers will work with one another to help prevent these tragedies.�
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration categorically states that seat belts are the surest way to prevent fatalities in automobile accidents. In fact, the risk of fatal injuries is reduced by 45 percent when seat belts are used properly, while the risk of injury is reduced by 50 percent by seat belt use. A reported 15,415 lives were saved in 2006 thanks to the use of safety restraints. Everyone traveling in cars should be properly restrained; adults are responsible for making sure children are secure in addition to ensuring their own safety.
The following is New York’s law on safety restraint use requirements:
• All front seat occupants must be properly secured, regardless of age.
• All rear seat passengers under 16 years of age must be properly secured.
• Children under the age of 4 must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat that is attached to a vehicle by a seat belt or universal child restraint anchorage (LATCH) system.
• Children younger than age 4 but weighing more than 40 pounds may be restrained in a booster seat with a combination lap/shoulder seat belt.
• Children ages 4, 5 and 6 must be properly secured in an appropriate child restraint system, one for which the child meets the height and weight recommendations of the child restraint manufacturer. Children more than 57 inches tall or weighing more than 100 pounds are exempt from this requirement, and may be secured in a seat belt.
• Children riding in booster seats must be secured with a combination lap/shoulder seat belt, unless one of the two following conditions exists:
1.) The vehicle is not equipped with lap/shoulder seat belts, or
2.) All lap/shoulder seat belts are already being used to restrain other passengers under the age of 16.
If either of these conditions exists, the child should be secured in a lap belt without the booster seat. In other words, never secure a child in a booster seat with only a lap belt.
After years of increased public awareness about the law and strict enforcement, roads have become safer. Through the Click It or Ticket program, which was instituted in May of 1999, New York State Police Captain Arthur Boyko said the same is accomplished.
“Definitely there has been a trend in less serious accidents and less fatalities,� he said, adding that the statewide program is technically for only a two-week period that started on Nov. 17 this year. “But certainly troopers and law enforcement in general are cognizant of seat belt issues and laws in enforcing them throughout the year.�
The bottom line, Boyko said, is that drivers need to buckle up automatically, every time they step into a car.
“I use mine out of habit,� he said. “I put mine on if I’m going down the street a quarter mile. I just feel I’m missing something if I don’t put it on. Unfortunately, some people have the same habit of not having it on.
“It’s the law, just like any other law you need to obey,� Boyko added. “It’s about safety, not only for yourself but if you have other passengers in the car who are not seatbelted, you’re all going to be thrown around. It’s a problem, but it’s a problem we can do something about.�
That something is simple — buckle up.
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