 "The facts are clear -- buckling up saves lives," Blagojevich said.
"As millions of Americans drive to celebrate the holiday with
friends and family, the simplest things you can do to protect
yourself and your family while traveling is to slow down and wear
your seat belt."During the "Click It or Ticket" mobilization,
officers will take a "zero-tolerance" approach to drivers who fail
to buckle up, as local police and sheriffs' departments across the
state set up numerous daytime and nighttime safety belt enforcement
zones. During the mobilization, more than 500 local, state and
county law enforcement agencies are dedicating more than 15,000
hours in enforcement details between May 1 and June 1. The state
police alone will conduct more than 2,000 details in the effort to
decrease fatalities and personal injury crashes by focusing on
safety belt enforcement, speed reduction, impaired driving and
underage drinking.
In addition, the Illinois State Police are continuing an
initiative introduced last year called "Stay Alive on the I's." The
enforcement initiative ran from noon until 10 p.m. Friday, when
troopers were placed every 10 miles along interstate corridors. The
saturation initiative concludes on Monday with a detail from 10 a.m.
until 8 p.m.
"In 2007, 13 individuals lost their lives in fatal crashes during
the four-day Memorial Day weekend," said Illinois State Police
Director Larry G. Trent. "Although this number is less than the 24
fatalities recorded in 2006 over (the) same time period, all of law
enforcement must remain diligent in their efforts to slow traffic
down and to strictly enforce the laws pertaining to seat belts and
driving under the influence."
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Blagojevich signed the primary safety belt enforcement law in July
of 2003. Prior to that, police could not pull a driver over based
solely on a seat belt violation. Since that time, there has been an
increase in safety belt use of 14 percent. In June 2003, Illinois'
safety belt compliance was 76.2 percent; it climbed to 83 percent in
June of 2004, 86 percent in June of 2005 and 88 percent in June of
2006. In June 2007, the safety belt compliance rate was at an
all-time record of 90.1 percent.
In addition to more people wearing their seat belts, fatalities
on Illinois roads have steadily declined since the enactment of the
primary safety belt enforcement law. In 2003, there were 1,454 total
fatalities; in 2004 there were 1,355; in 2005 there were 1,363; and
in 2006 there were 1,254 fatalities. All in all, in 2007 there were
1,249 fatalities, the lowest number of fatalities since 1924.
"The safety of motorists on Illinois highways is our top
priority. This initiative helps further our mission by ensuring that
drivers obey the speed limit, buckle their safety belts and do not
drive impaired," said IDOT Secretary Milton R. Sees. "We fully
support this initiative and ask motorists to make the choice to
drive safely and 'Stay Alive on the I's' this holiday weekend."
[Text from file received from
Illinois State Police]
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