On May 23, 2011, Monday, the state of New York kicks off its annual “Click It or Ticket – Buckle Up New York” campaign. This is a 14-day enforcement of the statewide seatbelt initiative, looking for motorists who ignore the State seatbelt law.

The campaign starts on May 23 and ends on June 5.

The “Click It or Ticket – Buckle Up New York” is a statewide zero-tolerance enforcement effort coordinated by the State Police and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee to increase safety belt use in the state.

New York State law requires all front-seat occupants to be properly secured, regardless of age. This also accounts for rear-seat passengers under the age of 16.

Fines for front-seat passengers caught not buckled-up may face fines of up to $50 and up, while drivers failing to have children properly secured may be fined up to $100 and receive up to three points on their driver’s license.

"Babies and toddlers are the most vulnerable. They can't buckle themselves in. They must rely on adults to do it for them. It's mandatory. The operators who fail to buckle up or properly secure their occupants will be issued a ticket," Troop T Commander Major Meyers said.

New York State Police Troop T is among the first few to enforce the law when New York became the first state to enact a mandatory seat belt law. They also state that buckling up takes only a few seconds, and that drivers and passengers should take that time to make sure that they are buckled up.

Labels: click it or ticket it, seatbelt laws, seatbelt safety, seatbelts

As New York State Police kick off their annual Memorial Day Buckle Up New York Campaign, it is probably a good time to review New York’s safety restraint laws. It would be pretty aggravating to be issued a citation at a check point without realizing you were doing anything wrong.

First and foremost, New York mandatory safety restraint law is classified as primary enforcement. This classification allows law enforcement officer to pull you over and issue a citation for failure to wear a seat belt. A ticket may also be issued to a driver who fails to adhere to New York’s child safety restraint guidelines.

New York State’s Safety Restraint Laws

• The driver and any passenger in the front-seat must wear a seat belt.


• Drivers and front-seated passengers over 16 can be fined up to $50 each for failure to wear a seat belt.


• Every occupant in a car driven by someone with a learner’s permit or junior license must wear a seat belt regardless of age or seating position.


• Each passenger under 16 must be properly restrained according to their age.


• It’s the driver’s responsibility to make sure all passengers under 16 obey the law. The driver can be fined $25-100 and receive three points on his or her license for each violation.


• Seat belt use in not required in taxis, livery vehicles, emergency vehicles, vehicles made prior to 1965 or by passengers on city buses.

New York State’s Child Safety Restraint Laws

• Children under four must be properly secured in a federally approved child safety seat. Note- A child under four that weight over 40 pounds may be restrained in a booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt.


• Children between the ages of four and eight must use a booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt or a child safety seat. Note – a child under the age of eight who is taller than 4’9’ or weighs more than 100 pounds is allowed to use a seat belt that has both a lap and a shoulder belt and does not need a booster seat or a child safety seat.


• For children who are 8, but are shorter than 4’9’ or weigh less than 100 pounds it is recommended that you continue to use a child safety restraint system.

New York State’s Seat Belts on School Buses Law

• According to New York State requirements all school buses manufactured after July 1, 1987 must be equipped with seat belts.


• Schools are required to make the seatbelts accessible every student.


• Children under 4 must be placed in properly installed federally-certified child safety seats.

New York State Seat Belt Law Medical Exemption

• If you have a physical condition that will not allow the proper use of a seat belt you could be except from the law with a doctor’s note.


• The note must be on a physician’s letterhead and you must carry when you’re behind the wheel and in the passenger seat.

Labels: new york driver safety, new york driving laws, seatbelt laws, seatbelts

In today's world, we're all looking for the safest car, especially if we have families to look out for, but with many different stories flooding the media, it can be difficult to get an accurate and honest scope on which car is the safest. One of the age old car safety questions has always been 'Are SUVs safer than Compact Cars'.

Of course, it's true that both of them have their individual advantages and disadvantages. SUVs are bigger and stronger giving them an advantage in a crash with a smaller vehicle however they can be prone to roll-overs in a crash. If the driver of an SUV suffers a blow out or over-corrects to avoid going off the road, the SUV’s high center of gravity can cause it to tip over and, at high speeds, this can cause the vehicle to roll. To understand the physics involved, you can conduct a simple experiment using a small 1x2 or a 2x4 block of wood. To represent a sedan, or compact car, set the block on the wider side and try to tip it over. Now place the block on its narrow side and you can see that it can easily be tipped over. That is because the center of gravity is higher on its narrow side.

Until a few years ago, the major problem with SUVs in a rollover was that their roof didn't have enough strength to support the weight of the vehicle in a roll-over crash and that resulted in more injuries and deaths. Later models have had their roofs strengthened but there are still a lot of the older models on the road.

The truth is that, according to a study by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, injuries sustained in SUVs were no better or worse than those sustained in Compact Cars. What that means is that neither type of vehicle is safer than the other. This new research has been released to try and dispel common rumors that seem to state that 'bigger is safer'.

When looking for a safe car, it can be a maze, but don't let the media fool you. A little known fact about safety is that a car is only as safe as the person driving it. Driver behavior often influences risk so it's more than likely that the stories you heard about terrible collisions due to an SUV rolling over probably run right back to a driver driving an SUV like a sports car.

Many different things influence driver behavior, including; age, sex, driving history or seatbelt use all effect how a person drives. There are environmental variables to consider as well, such as road type, the time of the day and the weather.

Above all, it's important you remember not to get caught up with the media; each car is only as safe as the person who drives it. What you need to look for in a car is more practical safety features, such as seatbelts, steering and other vehicle safety features specific to that vehicle.

For more information on SUV safety please visit www.NationalSafetyCommission.com.

Labels: driver education, driver safety, driver training, seatbelts, vehicle safety features