The governor of the state of New York, Andrew Cuomo, launched the "Buckle Up New York, Click It or Ticket" campaign to enforce and encourage the use of seat belts. According to a statement from the governor’s office, this campaign runs through Nov. 29. During and after this campaign, police officers throughout the state will be checking vehicles to ensure that everyone is wearing their seat belt, especially children in the backseat, who may need to be restrained in car seats. In 2019, New York police issued 26,432 citations for improper or nonexistent seat belt use. However, the governor’s public statement regarding seat belt use looks on the bright side of that number. Data from the Traffic Safety Management and Research at the University at Albany's Rockefeller College found that seat belt compliance reached a record high of 94% in 2019. The goal of Gov. Cuomo’s campaign is to reduce the number of citations and car accident-related injuries that could have been prevented by wearing a seat belt. Gov. Cuomo signed legislation in August that requires every occupant of the vehicle to wear a seat belt, updating and tightening existing legislation. New York police officers are now able to issue citations or tickets to anyone who is not wearing a seat belt. This also applies to restraining children properly in a booster or car safety seat. The overarching reason for implementing this new update to the seat belt law is to ensure that everyone on New York’s roads is safer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seat belts are crucial to reducing the risk of injury and death in the event of a car accident. In their Policy Impact report from January 2011, the CDC found that seat belts can reduce the chance of sustaining a serious injury by 50%. If you are wearing a seat belt at the time of a crash, the chance of dying in that accident is reduced by 45%. The report outlined overwhelming evidence in support of the widespread enforcement of seat belt wearing for each occupant in a vehicle, as seat belts are shown to save lives. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that of the 37,133 people killed in car accidents in 2017, 2,549 could have been saved if they had properly worn a seat belt. New York’s “Click It or Ticket” campaign hopes to cut this number of deaths to zero.
Governor Cuomo Announces Statewide Seat Belt Enforcement Campaign