‘Click it or ticket’: Riverhead police enforcing seat belt safety

There is a reason Riverhead police officers were pulling random cars over on Cross River Drive South on Tuesday, May 20 — seat belts.

Riverhead Police Department chief Edward Frost confirmed it is part of a two-week statewide campaign, Buckle Up New York, which the department has previously participated in, usually ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

The intersection of Main Road and Route 105 was just one of a few checkpoints the officers will be stationed at through June 1.

“It’s a statewide initiative for seat belt violations, for ensuring that people who operate the cars have seat belts on,” Chief Frost said.

During the campaign, police officers will use these safety checkpoints to enforce seat belt compliance, as well as ticket for other vehicle and traffic violations such as cell phone use, revoked or suspended licenses, expired inspections, unregistered vehicles and cracked windshields.

Following last year’s campaign, the police department reported a total of 762 summonses issues through targeted patrols and four checkpoints: 169 were issued for seatbelt violations, 24 for child restraint violations, 64 for cell phone violations and 505 for “other” vehicle and traffic violations.

Two arrests were also made during the checkpoints — one individual was arrested on an active Riverhead police warrant, and the other was arrested for a DWI during a nighttime enforcement detail.

In 2024, New York’s seat belt usage rate was 92%, and the year before, it reached an historic all-time high of 94%, according to the University of Albany’s Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research.

Increasing seat belt and child safety seat use is the most effective way to reduce crash-related injuries and fatalities, according to the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. Reported 2022 crash data showed that nearly 36% of front seat and back seat passengers killed on New York State roadways were unrestrained.

The Riverhead Police Department will post its 2025 results at the end of the safety campaign.