Cops: Hundreds issued seat belt tickets
The New York State Police Farmingdale troop issued more than 400 seat belt violations during a two-week enforcement period that ended Sunday, the law enforcement agency said in a Monday news release.
Troop L manned nine checkpoints in Nassau and Suffolk counties in the Buckle Up New York enforcement campaign from May 23 to June 5, the release said, issuing 439 seat belt tickets and eight more for child-restraint violations.
Buckle Up New York is a statewide, zero-tolerance effort designed to increase safety belt use, according to the State Police website.
Nassau and Suffolk police also participated in the enforcement campaign.
The enforcement campaign also included a nighttime checkpoint, after a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report that nighttime passengers are among those least likely to buckle up and most likely to die in crashes.
The 2009 study said during nighttime incidents nearly 62 percent of passengers were not wearing seat belts at the time of their fatal crashes.
Nassau County police issued 1,015 tickets during the campaign, down from 4,589 in 2010. A spokesman said he could not explain the discrepancy in the year-to-year numbers.
Suffolk County police did not have its checkpoint results available Monday morning.
'I've never seen fire sitting on the water' Three Newsday photographers talk to NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland about covering the tragic crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
'I've never seen fire sitting on the water' Three Newsday photographers talk to NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland about covering the tragic crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
