NCJ Number
184462
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 67 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2000 Pages: 34-39
Date Published
July 2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The New York State Police have initiated a program titled Buckle Up New York with assistance from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee to increase the use of safety belts through active, zero-tolerance of New York’s mandatory safety belt and child restraint laws.
Abstract
The program also includes active public information and education components. The law enacted in 1984 accounted for an initial large increase in safety restraint use. However, the relatively slow growth in the compliance rate in recent years suggested that the law and educational campaigns had reached their maximum effect and that the State needed different approaches to achieve additional gains. The strategy called Buckle Up New York used successful programs in other States as its guide. The strategy focused on three annual waves of enforcement scheduled around holidays that traditionally have heavy traffic volumes. Ten days of actively solicited news coverage preceded each enforcement wave. Multidisciplinary partnerships with a variety of organizations were crucial to initiating the program and providing impetus. The findings indicated that the campaign is increasing the use of safety restraints in New York State. Photograph