By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890 News
(CHICAGO) — With the start of the holiday season here, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois State Police will be enforcing the annual “Click It Or Ticket” enforcement.
IDOT is partnering with the ISP and more than 150 law enforcement agencies to increase patrols and checkpoints throughout the state. The enforcement effort began Nov. 17 and runs through the early morning hours of Nov. 27. A high concentration of patrols will occur between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., when seat-belt use declines and a higher percentage of alcohol-related crashes and fatalities occur.
Though the seat-belt usage rate in Illinois in 2016 was 93 percent, those who travel unbuckled represent a large percentage of traffic-related fatalities. Of the 1,078 people who died in 2016 crashes, only 57 percent were wearing their seat belt. Illinois law requires that all vehicle occupants wear seat belts. Police say not wearing a seat belt drastically increases the occupant’s risk of being injured or killed in the event of a crash.
Copyright 2017 WLS-AM News
