The Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois State Police and more than 200 law enforcement offices throughout the state are participating in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s high-visibility “Click It or Ticket” campaign to stop seat belt law violators and impaired drivers. During the campaign, law enforcement will step up efforts to ticket unbelted motorists and arrest drivers impaired by alcohol, drugs or other substances.
The campaign comes in advance of the “100 deadly days of summer,” which historically marks an increase in traffic fatalities between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The increase in traffic that comes during summer holiday weekends almost always correlates with an increase in fatalities. Last year’s Memorial Day weekend – the period from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday – saw 15 crashes resulting in 17 fatalities in Illinois.
The “Click It or Ticket” Memorial Day campaign runs through May 28. For more information, visit www.buckleupillinois.org. The effort is administered by IDOT with federal funds and coincides with the comprehensive multimedia campaign “It’s Not a Game.”