The Illinois State Police and Acting District 5 Commander Captain Santos Orta are informing motorists that Troopers will conduct several different patrols in the upcoming month of February in an effort increase safety on Will County Roads and Interstate Highways.
The officers will be focusing on drivers and passengers who fail to wear seat belts and fail to properly secure children in the correct type of safety seat for their age, these Occupant Restraint Enforcement Patrols will be ongoing during both daylight and nighttime hours.
Safety belt enforcement zones will also be set up to ensure the driver and any passengers are buckled up. Illinois law requires all vehicle passengers in both front and back seats to be buckled up. Despite the fact that seat belt compliance was at 94.9 percent in Illinois as of the most recent tally in 2019 an estimated 30,000 seat belt violations are still handed out each year.
Troopers will also be conducting nighttime enforcement patrols looking for DUI offenders, drivers who choose to illegally drive with open containers of alcohol in their vehicles, and those who fail to buckle up themselves or their passengers. Statistics show that these types of violations tend to increase after sundown. This project is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety.