Pigtails flapping, Andrea Colín raced her vehicle through two red lights, hooked a sharp left turn and slammed into the sidewalk.

"Phew. No police officers around," she said, collapsing into giggles.

Andrea Briseño was not so lucky. Within seconds of heading the wrong way on a one-way street, she was staring up at the scowling face of a traffic cop. For the next two minutes, the 5-year-old was told to reflect on her mistakes, as her tricycle sat idle on a patch of Astroturf.

The kindergartners were taking part in a Mexico City program aimed at instilling respect for the rules of the road at a tender age.

The program is part of an ambitious government campaign to bring control to this chaotic metropolis of 22 million - starting with the way people drive. And so far, authorities have had astounding success. In February and March alone, they nabbed about 75,000 speeders.

"It´s the beginning of a culture of legality," said Alfredo Hernández, director of traffic engineering for the Police Department and coordinator of many of the new enforcement and education programs.

Mexico City´s effort may seem insignificant when compared to similar campaigns in the United States, where police officers have used radar guns for decades. But in Mexico, where traffic rules often seem more like suggestions than the law, the crusade against bad drivers is revolutionary.

Until now, speeding tickets have been a rarity in Mexico City. Only 305 were issued in 2005.

Most officers simply didn´t care how fast drivers went. And if they did stop anyone, it was usually so they could extract a bribe, the fabled mordida, as it is known in Spanish.

Authorities now catch speeders using radar equipped with cameras, making human intervention - and the possibility of a mordida - almost nil.

BREATH TESTS GIVEN

Another radical change in the Mexican capital is the emergence of the Breathalyzer. And in the past three years, police have randomly stopped nearly a half-million motorists, catching about 10,000 drunken drivers, including 42 police officers and 87 bus and taxi drivers.

The stepped-up enforcement has reduced the number of city traffic accidents by 40 percent, according to a government report issued last week.

Traffic deaths typically skyrocket at Christmas and during this week´s Easter vacation, when Mexicans jam the highways on their way to the beach.

Officials hope the enforcement measures will be replicated by other cities across Mexico and the federal government, which is responsible for patrolling the highways. In 2001, 14,332 Mexicans were killed in transit accidents, according to the most recent World Health Organizationstatistics.

Traffic accidents claimed 1,715 lives last year in Mexico City´s federal district, which accounts for a third of the metropolitan area´s population. By comparison, there were 304 reported homicides, a problem that gets far more attention in a city plagued by violent crime.

About 40 percent of speeders are under the influence of alcohol in Mexico City, according to a police study. And excess speed, defined as above 60 mph, was responsible for 52 percent of the 21,000 accidents last year, it found.

However, the city government acknowledges that corrupt officials are also complicit for failing to enforce the law. The government is replacing the aging transit squad with 1,500 young, female officers, who are considered less corruptible. The new officers will earn about US$900 per month, compared with their predecessors´ US$600. In addition, security cameras have been installed at major intersections to reduce the temptation for officers to take bribes.

Drivers caught speeding are fined US$25 each. They are fined US$90 and will have their cars impounded for 24 hours for making illegal turns on major avenues - something once as common as honking.

Drunken drivers face tougher punishment: A mandatory 36 hours in jail. Offenders caught a second time lose their driver´s licenses for good.

"The point is to make them understand," said Hernández, who added that several would-be bridegrooms had been forced to postpone their weddings after landing in jail.

Not everyone likes the new culture of enforcement.

"It´s like living in a dictatorship," complained Sergio Arratia, a middle-school music teacher, who was waiting to pay US$2,000 in overdue car taxes at a mobbed government office. "They should convince us nicely, not bycoercion."

He said wealthy drivers can flout the law by buying US$100 radar detectors, a novelty here. Others complained that the speed limits - ranging from 45 mph to a maximum of 53 mph on the beltway surrounding the city - were unfairly low.

OTHERS APPLAUD CHANGE

However, many capital residents said they were happy the government was finally enforcing the law. "It´s a good idea, particularly because there´s no way to get out of it by bribing the police," said Lázaro Díaz, 50, an art restorer, who recently had his car impounded after making an illegal left turn.

"We´re just starting to wake up from the lethargy of so many years," said Claudia Adeath, co-founder of the new activist group Muévete por tu Ciudad, or Move for your City, which is working to promote respect for traffic laws in the capital. Together with the Police Department, the group coordinates a monthly education day, in which middle-schoolers stop traffic and rate drivers´ performance, among other activities.

Adeath said the enforcement measures were an important first step, but more needed to be done to root out corruption, especially issuing driver´s licenses.

The government recently abolished the requirement for a driver´s test, arguing it was a wellspring for corruption. Residents are now only required to pay about US$40 at a bank and present a receipt and identification to get a permanent license.

Ending the free-for-all traffic culture won´t be easy, Hernández said, but teaching children the basic rules will help.

As part of the Mexico City Police Department´s youth program, 155,000 children tried their hand at "driving" last year at five miniature cities set up around the capital. One mock city includes functioning traffic lights and models of the city´s major monuments and is policed by real-life transit cops.

"We have to start with the basic rules," Hernández said, eyeing yet another kindergartner running a red light. "There has to be zerotolerance."