PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
In New York, as in the rest of the nation, failure to use proper safety restraints when traveling in a motor vehicle causes more crash-related fatalities than any other traffic safety behavior, including speeding and impaired driving. Although New York's highways are considered among the safest in the country, a total of 1,630 people were killed in traffic crashes in the state during 1998. Of this number, 485 (30 percent) were not wearing seat belts, 277 (17 percent) were alcohol- or drug-related and 375 (23 percent) were speed-related. New York was the first state to establish a mandatory seat belt law, and in 1998 seat belt use among New Yorkers was 75 percent. In order to comply with the president's initiative to increase seat belt use nationwide to 85 percent by the year 2000, New York State Police (NYSP) developed the Buckle Up! New York campaign in May of 1999.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The Buckle Up! New York campaign is a multi-agency, statewide effort of zero tolerance traffic enforcement, based on similar successful programs in California and North Carolina. Objectives of the campaign are to:

• Achieve an estimable increase in New York's seat belt use rate, similar to post-campaign results realized in California (90 percent) and North Carolina (85 percent)
• Reduce traffic crash-related fatalities annually by 150
• Build a safety partnership with law enforcement agencies statewide, enlisting the support of the media

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The NYSP formed a partnership with the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, New York City Police Department, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the National Safety Council's Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign (AB&SBSC;), county and local law enforcement agencies throughout the state and other public and private entities. The program focuses on three primary driving issues: non-use of safety belts, speeding/ aggressive driving and impaired driving. Three statewide zero tolerance enforcement mobilizations were planned for 1999, to coincide with the Memorial Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving holidays. Each enforcement mobilization included the following activities:

• Conducting pre- and post-seat belt use rate surveys in participating cities and counties statewide
• Initiating a media campaign several days before each enforcement blitz, to reinforce the traffic safety message
• Adding additional enforcement personnel during each mobilization, to intensify the effort

RESULTS
The Memorial Day 1999 mobilization of the Buckle Up! New York campaign was conducted over a 10-day period (May 22-31), and resulted in an increase in seat belt use by New Yorkers from 74 percent to 81 percent. A total of 330 law enforcement agencies statewide participated in the effort, conducting 566 checkpoint operations. A total of 69,085 traffic citations were issued; including 40,060 for seat belt violations, 5,024 for child safety seat violations, 13,001 for speeding and 831 for impaired driving.

The second statewide enforcement wave coincided with the 1999 Labor Day holiday (September 10-19), with 345 police agencies participating. During this mobilization, 35,656 citations were issued for non-use of seat belts, and 897 for child safety seat violations.

The Thanksgiving 1999 mobilization was conducted between November 19-28, and resulted in a seat belt use rate of 84 percent, the highest rate ever recorded in New York. More than 400 law enforcement agencies participated in this effort, issuing 48,765 tickets, including 1,470 for child safety seat violations.

Together, the three Buckle Up! New York enforcement waves resulted in the issuance of 130,402 seat belt and 3,829 child safety seat violations.

FALL 1999