A two-week nationwide effort involving intense enforcement of seat-belt laws started today, the Governors Highway Safety Association announced recently.

The effort, part of the ongoing “Click it or Ticket” campaign, is being funded by grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“GHSA strongly supports this effort since it has been proven to be an effective method for increasing seat-belt usage,” Kathryn Swanson, Chair of the Governors Highway Safety Association, said in a statement. “Last year, the nation achieved a record 79 percent seat-belt use rate largely because of this approach. While this achievement is a significant accomplishment, more must be done.”

The enforcement effort, which started May 24, will continue through June 6, including the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The federal government has been working actively to compel states to pass stricter seat-belt laws.

An incentive program recently introduced in Congress gave states three years to enact a primary seat-belt law or reach a rate of usage of at least 90 percent. Failure to do one or the other would result in a loss of up to 4 percent of federal highway funds to the state.

A primary seat-belt law allows police to pull over a car if the officer sees anyone not belted in; 20 states and the District of Columbia have such laws. Under secondary seat-belt laws, common in the other 30 states, an officer can ticket a driver for failing to use a seat belt only if the car is pulled over already for another reason.

In addition to the seat-belt initiative, states in the southeastern part of the country are preparing a 100-day effort to crack down on speeding, seat-belt use, drunken driving and aggressive driving. The Governors Highway Safety Association said if the effort were successful, it could be expanded outside that region.