'Buckle Up New York' Starts Monday, Runs into June

Members of the Harrison Police Department will be participating in the Buckle Up New York "Click it or Ticket" Campaign for the next two weeks.

The effort is a statewide initiative conducted through checkpoints set up by law enforcement officials. At these points, throughout Harrison, West Harrison, Purchase and beyond, cops will be checking for proper safety-restraint compliance by all drivers and passengers.

The program is a "zero tolerance enforcement campaign designed to increase safety restraint use in New York State."

"Although New York State enacted the first mandatory safety belt use law in the nation in 1984, it is estimated that today only about 84 percent of New York State motorists always wear safety restraints," a description on the state's website reads. "The ongoing Buckle Up New York campaign works to continually increase this use rate."

The campaign wraps up June 4. 

Seat belts reduce serious injuries and deaths in motor vehicle accidents by approximately 50 percent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.