It's the time of the year again for the Glen Cove Police Department to conduct its Buckle Up campaign, which runs from May 19 through June 1. Click It...Or Ticket is a statewide, zero-tolerance enforcement effort coordinated by the State Police and the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee to increase safety restraint use in New York State.

Sgt. Patrick Hall of the Glen Cove Police Department reports that last year's campaign resulted in more than 475 summonses issued. The police have said that this is not something they enjoy doing, but the public needs to be aware that buckling up is the law.

According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, failure to wear a safety belt is the most prevalent factor associated with traffic fatalities.

New York State law states:

All front seat occupants must wear a seatbelt regardless of age. The driver is responsible for all front seat passengers under age 16.

All back seat passengers under the age of 16 must also be properly restrained.

Children less than 7 years old must be properly restrained in an appropriate child safety seat, one that meets the child's height and weight requirements.

Beyond the laws there are life-saving benefits to wearing a seatbelt as a driver or as a passenger. Safety belts prevent you from being ejected from a vehicle during a crash. If you are ejected from the car, you are four times more likely to be killed, especially in rollover crashes where the car could end up "rolling over" onto you.

Seatbelts also help absorb the crash forces by putting the stress of the crash on the strongest parts of your body, your hips and your shoulders. The special fabric seatbelts are made of a special material to help spread the crash forces over the broadest areas of the body, reducing the chance of injury and helping you "ride down" the crash by slowing down your body.

Seatbelts also help protect your head, neck and spinal cord, which, if injured, could result in the loss of mobility or feeling due to loss of nerve function, which could possibly impair your ability to live independently. They also help protect you and your passengers from becoming "bullets" or "projectiles" by preventing collisions with one another, the steering wheel, the vehicle seat, or the windshield - all of which can have devastating consequences.

However, said Sgt. Hall, seatbelts will only do their job if you wear them and you wear them correctly. This means the lap belt should be worn low on the hips and thighs, not on the belly and the shoulder belt should be across the shoulder and chest, not across the neck.

Thirty percent of highway deaths in New York State have occurred with occupants who were unrestrained. It is a greater factor than alcohol or excessive speed. Inpatient hospital costs for unbelted crash victims are 50 percent higher than those for belted victims. Society pays 85 percent of those costs, not the crash victims. Safety belts are not an option; they are a way of life and they are the law.

So wear your seatbelt, cautions Sgt. Hall. It could save your life or the life of someone you know.