Ledyard — Standing on the westbound side of state Route 214, a bright yellow sign illustrates the two quickly approaching right-angle curves and issues a warning: Travel 20 mph or face the consequences.

But the steep hill that follows as cars draw closer to Spicer Hill Road is just one of the many hazards of Ledyard's winding roads that seem to catch motorists by surprise.

"It's no secret we have a lot of accidents in town," Lt. Ken Creutz said.

That's why the Ledyard Police Department, independent since Feb. 1 and equipped with its first-ever town police chief, John Rich, decided earlier this year to try to reduce accidents, Creutz said.

First, Sgt. Craig Getter searched department's records three years back to find where accidents had occurred and had resulted in injury.

"From that, we came up with five hot spots," Creutz said, explaining these five roads — Route 12, Route 214, Route 117, Shewville Road and Long Cove Road — had seen a large portion of the town's approximately 1,100 wrecks during the three-year span.

Route 12 averages about five accidents each month.

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This year alone, there's been at least one high-profile wreck on each of those five roads.

In January, a Groton man was killed in a head-on collision on Route 12, a car hit and seriously injured a bicyclist on Route 117 and the Ledyard passenger in a Shewville Road crash died a few days after it happened.

The estate of the victim in the Shewville acciddent, 22-year-old Brett Drake, on April 21 filed a notice of intent to sue the town, alleging that the guide rail with which the truck collided was an improper model and the roadway was "dangerous or defective."

Just last month, a Ledyard woman died after striking a tree on Route 214, a car snapped a pole and closed Long Cove Road for hours and an Oakdale woman had to be taken by helicopter to a hospital after crashing into a tree on Route 117.

It's a problem that likely is exacerbated by the fact that most of Ledyard's roads weren't designed to accommodate traffic from not one, but two casinos, Creutz said.

"In reality, a lot of the roads were actually converted cow paths," he explained. "It's definitely a factor that there was never any consideration to that type of traffic."

Sgt. Tom Olsen has been charged with implementing the initiative and keeping track of its progress. He noted that it'd be difficult, if not impossible, to change conditions now.

"We can't straighten the roads — you've been in small towns — but we can probably do a better job of getting people to adhere to or drive a little closer to the speed limits," he said.

As part of the initiative, Olsen explained, Ledyard patrol officers are focusing on one road each month, increasing speeding and other traffic violation enforcement while also using equipment such as lighted speed trailers and strategically placed empty cruisers.

The goal, he said, is not to write a ticket each time someone is pulled over, but rather to make contact with as many people as possible and remind them how fast they should be driving.

"It's trying to bring conscious attention to the daily routine," Olsen said. "When you drive the same road every day, you're not paying attention to much, really. You're just doing your thing."

A second aspect of the operation, he said, is to educate the community.

Police are working with Ledyard schools to set up everything from accident reconstruction demonstrations and math-based presentations to safe driving poster contests for students in the coming academic year, Olsen said.

For example, students might be charged with figuring out just how much time they'll save if they drive 10 mph faster than the speed limit for a couple of miles on the way to school or to a football game.

"The difference is minuscule — it's a minute or two," Olsen said. "We want them to be able to figure that out. If you can develop good driving habits at a young age, it can only benefit drivers down the road."

Although the campaign is still young, he said, police have found positive results in the first 30 days: While there were a similar number of crashes on Route 12, none resulted in injury and none was speed-related.

"It's an initiative to slow people down," Olsen said of the campaign. "It's not a punishment. It's an initiative for the well-being of the townspeople and the people that travel through town."

l.boyle@theday.com