KINGFIELD – It was just after 10 Thursday morning and the sun was shining brightly when police stopped the first vehicle at a safety checkpoint on Route 27. By the time they had stopped the last, more than 50 violations would be noted.
Franklin County Sheriff’s Cpl. Steve Charles checked drivers to see if they were wearing seat belts, did a quick visual check of the vehicle and sent drivers off to “have a good day.”
The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety and the Maine Law Enforcement Community are joining together to increase safety belt use in Maine.
State Trooper Mathew Casavant, county Deputy Aaron Turcotte and Sgt. Steve Lowell as well as U.S. Border Patrol agents Frank Blauvelt Jr. and William Hardt also taking part in the safety checks.
More law enforcers were expected to take a turn.
By 10:20 a.m. the enforcers had come in contact with 25 vehicles and written three warnings, one for no seat belt, one for a cracked windshield and one for no front plate.
By the end of the detail at 1:30 p.m., twice that – 600 contacts – were made, Turcotte said.
Police issued 27 seat belt violations, four other violations and 20 written warnings for defects, he said.
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