With nearly all other states surpassing Maine when it comes to motorists using safety belts, Maine police agencies stepped up enforcement efforts this spring, issuing more tickets than warnings during a national awareness campaign.

Only one in three motorists found to be violating Maine’s safety belt law received a warning during the “Buckle Up – No Excuses” campaign, which ran from May 23 to June 5 and involved more than 80 law enforcement agencies, according to state-compiled data made available recently.

A total of 4,064 people were found to be in violation of the safety belt law. A total of 2,549 of them received tickets.

“The police departments were less inclined to give written and verbal warnings this year,” Lauren Stewart, acting director for the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, said recently about the campaign.

“The trend holds true in Bangor,” Deputy Chief Peter Arno of the Bangor Police Department said Tuesday. Citations for safety belt violations outnumbered warnings by nearly 2-to-1 during the two-week period of the campaign, he said.

This year marked the second year of the nationwide campaign, with a nearly 10 percent increase in the number of Maine agencies participating over last year.

Maine had been lagging behind most of the country when it comes to seat belt use. A study in 2002 found that only New Hampshire and Massachusetts had fewer motorists using seat belts, Carl Hallman, Maine Bureau of Highway Safety director, said Monday.

Maine did see a substantial jump in usage in a survey done just after last year’s buckle-up campaign, in which 72.3 percent of motorists were found to be using safety belts, up from 59 percent a few years earlier.

Bangor was one of 85 municipal, county and state police agencies that participated in the national campaign. Maine used $533,000 in federal highway safety funds for the program.

Officers are given discretion as to when to issue warnings and the $65 tickets for seat belt violations, but Arno said officers are well aware of the need of safety belts.

They have seen the effects of not wearing seat belts, the avoidable injuries and sometimes deaths in motor vehicle accidents, he said.

Although the two-week enforcement program focused on safety belts, motorists had to be stopped for other reasons, as Maine law doesn’t allow a lack of a seat belt to be a primary reason for stopping a motorist.

Instead, officers, deputies and troopers were looking for other violations, from speeding to inspection and registration violations.

Statewide, a total of 14,782 people were stopped during the campaign. Nearly 1,000 people were cited for speeding and nearly another 5,200 were given written or verbal warnings for speed.

Another 383 motorists were summoned for not having insurance, 30 were charged on drug-related violations and 44 people were arrested after they were found to be wanted on warrants.

Whether the campaigns will have long-term effects on Maine motorists remains to be seen. Results of surveys taken before this year’s campaign and just after it have not come in yet, Hallman said.

Asked if he thought safety belt usage might increase, Hallman said, “We’re getting there.”

The Hampden Police Department was one of the eight new recruits to the campaign, and Public Safety Director Joe Rogers said officers ran 17 details during the two weeks, focussing on heavily trafficked areas and around school zones.

During all of the 179 traffic stops Hampden police officers made, they issued information on the law and benefits of using safety belts along with 46 citations for safety belt violations and 22 warnings.

Local and state officials said law enforcement agencies wanted to leave a lasting impression on motorists about using safety belts.

“Obviously if you get into the habit, you don’t even think about it,” Rogers said. “It’s like turning on the car. We’re hoping to get to that point.”