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Illinois counties have extra traffic enforcement now through Memorial Day weekend

Troopers will focus on speeding, failure to use seatbelts and other driving offenses as part of their efforts.
Illinois State Police star image from Illinois State Police website

MACOMB, Illinois — Several Illinois counties south of the Quad Cities will have special Traffic Enforcement patrols (sTEP) between May 13th and May 30th, 2016.

Special sTEP Enforcement

Those counties include Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, McDonough and Warren Counties.

Troopers will focus on speeding, failure to use seatbelts and other driving offenses as part of their efforts. The sTEP program uses a combination of increased enforcement and spreading information to the public in order to raise awareness of traffic laws.

The Illinois State Police says speeding is a factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes nationwide, and more than 40 percent in Illinois. Approximately one person died in the country each hour due to not wearing a seat belt.

This project is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety.

Galesburg Click It or Ticket

The Galesburg Police will join hundreds of agencies participating in the Click It or Ticket campaign throughout May. Officers will be out in force day and night, cracking down on drivers and passengers not wearing their seat belts along with impaired drivers.

Motorists caught driving unbuckled will be tickets. Those driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be arrested.

Illinois law states that all front and back seat occupants in a vehicle wear a seat belt. Children are required to be in a booster seat or car seat until they are 8 years old. All children under 13 are encouraged to ride in the back seat.

During the statewide survey by the IDOT in 2015, only about 84.9 percent of occupants in the back seat wear a seatbelt, versus 95.2 percent of front seat occupants.

Of the 274 deaths in 2015 that happened at night, 42 percent were not wearing a seat belt.

Last Memorial Day weekend, 13 people died on Illinois road ways. Three of those deaths were alcohol-related.

 

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