The Caseyville Police department will conduct a stationary seat belt enforcement zone during the nighttime hours on May 16-24, the department has announced.
The effort will be part of an expanded patrol effort from May 9-26 enforcing seat belt and alcohol violations. Funding for these extra patrols was provided to Caseyville and hundreds of other law enforcement agencies in the state by the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Sustained Traffic Enforcement Grant Program (STEP).
Illinois drivers and passengers are required to wear a seat belt in all positions of the car following a law that went into effect in January 2012. In 2012, Illinois traffic crashes resulted in 46 back seat passenger fatalities and more than 5,000 injuries. Thirty of the 46 killed were not wearing a seat belt.
In 2013, the overall usage rate for rear seat occupants was 77.4 percent, compared to 93.7 percent for drivers and front seat passengers, according to observational surveys conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
During the 2013 Memorial Day weekend ,there were three deaths and nearly 600 injuries on Illinois roads.
