BANGOR – Motorists heading for Bangor should make sure they have their seat belts buckled, obey the posted speed limit, stop for red lights and stop signs and drive sober. They also should have their registrations and inspection stickers up to date and have their cars and trucks in good running order.

The Bangor Police Department has launched what it is calling its Traffic Offense Reduction Plan, a citywide crackdown on traffic violations that will include beefed up patrols in the city’s trouble spots, including major roads, residential streets and intersections.

In what Chief Ron Gastia promises will be a high-visibility effort, problem areas won’t be kept secret. They’ll be publicized through public service announcements in the local media and on the city’s public access cable television station. Police also will use signboards in some of the areas selected for special police attention.

The focus on motor vehicle violations comes in response to a public and police perception that traffic violations have been steadily increasing within city limits, said Gastia, who unveiled the initiative Monday during a news conference at the police station.

Gastia, who lives about three miles outside the city limits, said his daily commute to and from work takes him through four sets of traffic lights.

At virtually every one of them, he sees motorists failing to stop for red lights. He also sees speeders, people who aren’t wearing seat belts and drivers committing a whole range of other traffic violations.

“I’m tired of it,” Gastia said. “That has to stop.”

“Frankly, voluntary compliance has failed,” he said.

To that end, city police will be writing lots of tickets, Gastia said, adding that as he sees it, warnings help encourage compliance with traffic laws, but summonses will ensure the campaign’s success.

The effort also is about getting back to basics – things as simple as, “Red means stop. Green means go. Yellow means proceed with caution, the light’s about to change – not speed up and go faster so you can beat the [red] light,” Gastia said.

Gastia said that traffic enforcement was one of the items at the top of his priority list when he became police chief a year ago.

“But we can’t do it alone. We don’t have the resources to do that,” he said. Gastia encouraged residents to call the police department when they see problem driving.

The effort actually began back in January, though it began in a relatively low profile way.

Despite that, some of Bangor’s more observant residents and businesspeople have noticed more scofflaws being pulled over and ticketed and they have expressed their thanks to Gastia and other police officers.

Gastia said that the city is applying for up to $12,000 in grants from the state Bureau of Highway Safety to cover overtime costs connected with enforcing seat belt, speed and drunken driving laws.

He said, however, that the effort won’t stop when the grant money runs out.

“This will be ongoing. I want to get the message out that Bangor enforces traffic laws,” he said.

As Gastia sees it, compliance with motor vehicle laws is important from a safety standpoint, as well as from a quality of life point of view.

When motorists violate laws, “Our children are in danger and our pedestrians are at risk,” he said. He said Bangor goes to great lengths to attract visitors to its events and venues and poor judgment puts those people at risk as well.

City Hall is behind the effort, too. During a meeting Monday night, city councilors signed a pledge to be role models for other drivers by following the laws themselves.

dgagnon@bangordailynews.net

990-8189