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The Illinois State Police recently announced that they may conduct roadside safety checks and occupant restraint enforcement patrols in Madison and St. Clair counties in September.
Light at a police station / Photo by Roger Starkey
A roadside safety check is a tool for generating voluntary compliance by the motoring public. The potential to come across these checks encourages motorists to arrange designated drivers, keep their consumption of alcohol within the allowable limits, or not drive a motor vehicle after drinking, police said. Safety checks are designed to keep roads safe by taking dangerous DUI offenders off the road.
Across the country, an average of one alcohol-related traffic death occurs every 45 minutes. Alcohol and drug impairment are significant factors in over 40 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in Illinois. Each year in Illinois, hundreds of lives are lost in alcohol-related crashes, Illinois State Police said.
Officers working the roadside safety checks will also be watchful for drivers who are operating vehicles in an unsafe manner, driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license, and transporting open alcoholic beverages.
This roadside safety check is funded through a grant from the United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grant is administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety.
occupant restraint enforcement patrols allow the ISP to target an area with saturation patrols that focus on traffic violations and related compliance with safety belt and child safety seat laws. Safety belt enforcement zones will also be set up to ensure the driver and passengers are buckled up, police said. Beginning January 1, 2012, Illinois law requires all vehicle passengers (front and back) to be buckled up.
Safety belts are one of the most effective safety devices in vehicles today, estimated to save over 16,000 lives each year, police said. Over half of vehicle occupants killed in a traffic crash were not properly buckled up.
The objective of this program is to increase compliance of occupant restraint laws through education, child seat inspections, and enforcement.
This project is funded through the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety.
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