When it comes to fatal holiday traffic accidents, New Year's gets a bad rap. Nationwide, the trio of summer holidays -- Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day -- are among the most deadly and the next six weeks contain the two deadliest holiday weekends of the year for New York car accidents.

Twenty people were killed in New York traffic accidents over the Memorial Day weekend in 2008, the last year for which traffic statistics are available through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Twenty-one were killed in New York accidents over the Fourth of July. Those 41 traffic deaths equal the 41 total New York traffic deaths that occurred for New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In response, law enforcement across Central New York have launched a "Click it or Ticket" seat belt enforcement campaign and police across the state are expected to be out in force through the holiday weekend. The effort is already underway in Syracuse, where at least four to eight patrols a day will be dedicated to traffic safety and seat belt enforcement, The Post-Standard reported.

Last year, the effort involved 600 police agencies, according to New York State Police. Trooper issued 22,059 tickets for seat belt violations and conducted 137 safety checkpoints across New York State during 2009's two-week blitz.

New York drunk driving accidents are a primary concern for law enforcement during holiday weekends. In 2008, about one-third of all fatal New York traffic accidents were alcohol related, accounting for 410 of the state's 1,231 traffic fatalities.

Distracted driving and the use of cell phones behind the wheel is another concern. As we reported last month on our New York Injury Lawyer Blog, New York is one of two states participating in a pilot program that targets distracted driving. The federal government estimates that about 6,000 people are killed each year and more than 500,000 are injured in traffic accidents involving a distracted driver.

Fatal New York Holiday crashes in 2008

New Year's Eve/Day: 3

Memorial Day: 20

Fourth of July: 21

Labor Day: 12

Thanksgiving: 16

Christmas: 10

Holiday accidents nationwide:

New Year's Eve/Day: 141

Memorial Day: 370

Fourth of July: 437

Labor Day: 423

Thanksgiving: 439

Christmas: 364