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The Tompkins County Sheriff's Office conducted a 'Buckle Up New York, Click it or Ticket detail from May 30th - May 31st. This detail directly correlates with the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee of New York State.

"Our mission is to be a reminder to community members about how dangerous it can be to not have a seatbelt on. I believe that people can often overlook such a small detail, in haste or just out of habit, but that is when people can get hurt the most," says Sheriff Osborne.

The Seat Belt Mobilization Enforcement/ "Buckle Up New York, Click it or Ticket campaign is celebrating the 20th year anniversary. According to the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research, since 2000 New York State seat belt usage rates have gone from 77 % to 93 % in 2018. During this detail, the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office issued 53 tickets, 23 of which were seat belt related and 30 were other various violations.

"Between seeing the New York State statistics and seeing the amount of seat belt tickets that were issued through this detail, it shows me the impact this campaign has had and how much it is still needed; especially when we are headed into the graduation and summer season," says Sheriff Osborne.

The "Buckle Up New York, Click it or Ticket" detail typically occurs every year at the end of May into the beginning of June. Those people that want to learn more about this campaign can visit www.safety.ny.gov .

State Police issued 13,693 tickets and arrested 225 people for impaired driving over Memorial Day weekend, as part of the STOP-DWI traffic enforcement period. The initiative, which targeted impaired and reckless drivers, began on Friday, May 24 and continued through Monday, May 27.

Acting State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett said, "The results of this year's campaign show that far too many people are making the wrong decision, and getting behind the wheel while intoxicated or impaired by drugs. We have no tolerance for this behavior, and our Troopers will remain vigilant to remove these reckless individuals from our roadways."

During the 54-hour STOP-DWI campaign, which was partially funded by the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, the New York State Police increased patrols and conducted sobriety checkpoints to deter, identify and arrest impaired drivers.

State Troopers arrested 225 people for DWI and investigated 134 personal injury crashes, which resulted in 190 people getting injured and four fatalities. As part of the enforcement, Troopers also targeted speeding and aggressive drivers across the state. Below is a sampling of the tickets that were issued:

• Speeding: 3,855
• Distracted Driving: 392
• Seatbelt violations: 3,327
• Move Over Law: 267

Troopers used marked State Police vehicles as well as Concealed Identity Traffic Enforcement (CITE) vehicles as part of this crackdown. CITE vehicles allow a Trooper to better observe driving violations because they blend in with everyday traffic but are unmistakable as emergency vehicles once the emergency lighting is activated.

On Memorial Day weekend in 2018, Troopers arrested 234 people for impaired driving, and issued 13,318 total tickets.

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