ITHACA, N.Y. -- Teenagers and young adults across the country and in this area are going to be surrounded with a strong safety campaign message: "Click It or Ticket; If you won't buckle up to save your life, then buckle up to save yourself a ticket," as Cornell University Police joins more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies and other campus and university law enforcement officers in a nationwide crackdown on seat belt law violators.

The message to teens and young adults will be seen and heard in television and radio ads, across college campuses, over high school public address systems and through enforcement in locations where young people congregate -- such as schools and sporting events.

The two-week enforcement wave, May 24-June 6, will be supported by more than $30 million in congressionally funded national and state advertising. It is based on a proven public health model to increase seat belt use called "high visibility enforcement." Last year, the national "Click It or Ticket" push increased seat belt use by four percentage points -- to 79 percent, the highest rate ever recorded.

"The only proven way to get significant increases in seat belt use among young people and ultimately save lives is through high visibility enforcement, including targeted and intense advertising to alert people to the enforcement," said Sgt. Chuck Howard of Cornell Police. "Teens and young adults are killed at far higher rates in crashes because they are caught in a lethal intersection of inexperience, risk taking and low seat belt use. These tragedies are predictable and therefore preventable, using proven techniques like high visibility enforcement mobilizations."

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 4,530 teenagers, 16-19, died and some 320,000 more were seriously injured in traffic crashes in 2002. And while young drivers ages 15 to 20 account for 6.6 percent of licensed drivers, they represented 14 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of police reported crashes in 2001. Teen seat belt use in states with strong seat belt laws is consistently and substantially higher, presenting compelling evidence of the need to enact primary laws throughout the United States, according to a new analysis of government fatality data. The analysis was based on data from the NHTSA database that contains information on virtually all fatal crashes on public roads in the United States.

"While national seat belt use stands at 79 percent, we know the remaining 21 percent who don't wear their seat belts are disproportionately teens and young men, ages 18 to 34. Safety belt use for teens and young adults, ages 16 to 24, is more like 69 percent and continues to lag behind the rest of the population," said Howard. "It's important to note that this is a daytime seat belt use number. We know that nighttime belt use is much lower among teens and young adults."

During the national "Click It or Ticket" mobilization, officers will intensify enforcement of seat belt laws and child passenger safety laws by setting up checkpoints and saturation patrols. Drivers failing to restrain themselves and their child passengers will be ticketed according to the law.

"This mobilization is designed to get the enforcement message out to our most vulnerable populations, but it is a reminder to all of us that buckling up can save us a ticket and may save us our lives," said Chuck Hurley, executive director of the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign of the National Safety Council.

The publicity campaign and enforcement mobilization is conducted by NHTSA with support from the Air Bag and Seat Belt Safety Campaign, in conjunction with law enforcement agencies, state highway safety offices and the National Transportation Safety Board.