‘Buckle Up NY’ Enforcement Begins In Port Washington Next Week

PORT WASHINGTON, NY— The “Buckle Up New York” seat belt safety enforcement efforts will run in conjunction with the national “Click it, or Ticket” campaign from May 24 to June 6, Port Washington Police District officials announced Monday.

Regular police patrols, as well as the Traffic Safety Enforcement Unit and the Problem-Oriented Policing Unit, will be “making a special effort to monitor seatbelt usage,” and safety inspection checkpoints will be used throughout various locations in the police district, according to a news release.

A 2019 state-wide seat belt observational survey found the current seat belt use rate is at a historical high of 94%, but despite gains in usage, about 33% of the front-seat occupants killed on roadways are unrestrained, according to police. When unbelted passengers, who are riding in the back seat and are killed, are included in that number, the total percentage of unrestrained passengers who are killed rises to about 37%, police said.

Increasing seat belt and child safety seat use is the “most effective way” to reduce car crash-related injuries and fatalities, according to police.

Buckle Up New York and Click It Or Ticket are state-wide, zero-tolerance enforcement efforts, which as coordinated by the State troopers, local law enforcement agencies, sheriffs’ offices, and the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee to increase safety restraint use in New York State, according to police. The state, which enacted the first seat belt law in the U.S. in 1984, has led the way in passenger safety restraint by using public education campaigns and intensive enforcement of seatbelt laws, police said.

Here’s a breakdown of NY’s seat belt law:

• All motor vehicle passengers aged 16 and older must wear a seat belt.
• Children up to eight years old must have an appropriate child restraint system while riding in an automobile.
• All children under the age of two years old must ride in a rear-facing car seat.
• All taxi or livery passengers, who are 8-15 years of age, must wear a seat belt.
• Backseat passengers, who are riding in a taxi or livery and are 16 years of age or older, must wear a seat belt.
• Vehicle passengers, who are required to wear seat belts, must wear both the lap belt and shoulder harness.

And Some Seat Belt Tips From Police:

• When buckling up, adjust your belt so that it is positioned correctly.
• The lap belt, or lap portion of the lap/shoulder belt combination, should be adjusted so it is snug and low across the hips and pelvis. It should never run across the stomach area.
• The shoulder belt should cross the chest and collarbone and be snug. It should never cross the front of the neck or face.
• Do not add excessive slack, such as more than one inch, into the shoulder belt, and if the car you are seated in has an automatic shoulder belt, the lap belt must be buckled manually. Some automobiles have shoulder belt adjusters allowing the movement of the shoulder belt's upper anchorage, which makes it easier to adjust the shoulder belt so that it does not touch the neck.
• Small adjustments to the seat belt in either the belt position, or in your position on the seat, can improve comfort and make the belt work better in a car crash.
• Infants and toddlers should ride in rear-facing car seats for as long as possible, but at least until the age of two, and if a child outgrows the weight or height limit of the seat, then a convertible or all-in-one car seat should be used in the rear-facing position until the child outgrows the weight or height limit set by the car seat manufacturer.
• You should keep your child in a forward-facing car seat with a harness as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by the car seat manufacturer.
• You should use a belt-positioning booster seat when your child’s weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for the car seat, and keep your child in a booster seat until the lap and shoulder belts fit properly, which is typically between 8 and 12 years old.
• When a seat belts fit your child properly, the lap belt should be low and snug across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt should lay across the middle of the chest and shoulder.
• Children under age 13 should always ride in the back seat.
• Encourage other people — family members, friends, and co-workers — to wear their seat belts every trip, every time.