ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University Police will soon be driving home an important safety message: Buckle your seat belt or get a ticket. From April 18 through April 22, Cornell Police will be bringing the fourth annual "Click It or Ticket" campaign back to campus. Extra road patrols will be assigned, and checkpoints will be set up to better enforce New York state seat belt laws.

During the five-day campaign, Cornell Police say they will show "zero tolerance" for motorists who fail to use their seat belts. Under state law, all front-seat occupants of a motor vehicle -- and all occupants under 16 years old -- must be properly restrained by seat belts or child-safety seats, depending on their age.

As a sweet incentive, Cornell Police plans to reward safety-minded drivers who buckle up by handing out coupons for ice cream from Cornell Dairy Store. Motorists who ride without seat belts will forego the ice cream and get a ticket instead.

The "Click It or Ticket" campaign is designed to promote safety and demonstrate the university's commitment to the state's "Buckle Up New York" campaign. Cornell places a high priority on motorist safety, both by its employees and those who drive in and around the campus. Since the campaign's inception in the spring of 2001 through fall 2004, seat belt usage by Cornell employees driving university-owned vehicles increased to 92 percent from 41 percent. Seat belt use among the general public driving on campus increased to 91 percent from 69 percent over the same period.

The program is financed through the New York State Governor's Traffic Safety Committee and subsidized by Cornell Dairy Store.