ILLINOIS POLICE TO CRACK DOWN ON INTOXICATED DRIVERS

Police again this holiday season are cracking down on drivers who insist on getting behind the wheel while impaired. “It’s not rocket science. People just need to make the right choices,” said Capt. James Wolf, commander of the District 9 Illinois State Police in Springfield. Law enforcement personnel will be out in force between now and Jan. 1 and are adopting a zero-tolerance approach to drunken driving.

They also will be ticketing people for violating seat belt laws, speed restrictions, Scott’s Law (also known as the “move-over law”) and other traffic violations. “Being a sober driver should not be a difficult decision,” said Trisha Clegg, affiliate executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. At a press conference Wednesday, they offered the following tips:

* Arrange for a safe way to get home before the festivities begin — designate a sober driver, know the number for a cab company, know where the nearest bus stop is, plan to spend the night.

* If you see a drunken driver on the road, call 911 or contact local law enforcement.

* If you know someone who is about to drive drunk, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get home safely.

Wolf said troopers are even more intent on catching impaired and unsafe drivers because alcohol-related crash fatalities, as well as fatal crashes overall, are up for the year in District 9, which is made up of Sangamon, Christian, Morgan, Cass, Menard, Mason and Logan counties. As of Nov. 30, there have been 20 confirmed alcohol-related fatalities in District 9, compared to all of 2006, when there were eight.

“Twenty people would still be alive today if someone had decided not to drink and drive,” Wolf said. “That’s 20 families going through the holidays without their loved ones.” Crash fatalities overall are up nearly 67 percent in District 9 this year. There have been 52 crashes with 53 deaths so far in 2007. Of the 53 motorists who were killed, 23 were not wearing seat belts.

District 9 troopers so far this year have arrested 352 drunken drivers, up from the 315 that were arrested in all of 2006. In addition, troopers have written more than 4,000 seat belt tickets this year in their quest to curb fatalities.

Last year, they wrote just over 3,600 seat belt tickets. Brad Warren with the Illinois Secretary of State Police said his fellow officers also will be out looking for drunken drivers between now and Near Year’s Day. Their goal is to make the roads safe and free of impaired drivers. “I think the important message here is this effort to make the roadways safe is a team effort. It takes all of us,” he said.

“If you get stopped by a secretary of state officer and you are impaired, you’re going to jail. It doesn’t make any difference who you are, who you know or if you live one block away. You’re going to jail.”