As Memorial Day weekend nears, lawmen press for seamless enforcement effort

YCSO Chief Deputy Tom Baran addresses the crowd at the Border to Border regional law enforcement initiative on Tuesday in Kittery, Maine (Courtesy photo)

KITTERY, Maine - The York County Sheriff's Office is coordinating traffic safety for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend with local police and state troopers from Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire in a new "Border to Border" initiative.

Specific to the YCSO, deputies along with Maine State Troopers and other law enforcement personnel will be focusing on seat-belt use enforcement as well as targeting impaired drivers.

Extra details will be on the roads in an effort to keep holiday travelers safe.

From 2008 to 2012, seat belts have saved nearly 63,000 lives nationwide, York County Sheriff William King noted in a Tuesday press release. Maine remains at about 85 percent compliant with seat belt use.

In 52 percent of fatal crashes last year, the deceased was unrestrained. In Maine, York County had the highest amount of fatal motor vehicle crashes (21 fatalities) out of any other county. Nine of those deaths occurred in the towns covered by the sheriff's office.

As Memorial Day Weekend approaches, the York County Sheriff's Office in cooperation with the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety will be supporting the efforts to reduce injuries and deaths due to traffic crashes, King said extra deputies will be assigned for traffic enforcement and the Regional Impaired Driving Enforcement (RIDE) teams will be active during the weekend. Highway message boards will also be reminding people to buckle up and drive safely.

The York County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday participated in the Border to Border media kickoff event at the Kittery Information Center. Representatives from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts state police, along with Maine agencies that border New Hampshire were present.