CARMI, Ill.---Captain Kelly Hodge, District 19 Commander, announced Friday that the Illinois State Police (ISP) will conduct Alcohol Countermeasure Enforcement (ACE) patrols in White and Saline counties during the month of March.
These ACE patrols allow the ISP to target an area with a saturation patrol that focuses on preventing, detecting, and taking enforcement action in response to violations associated with impaired driving and illegal transportation or consumption of alcohol and other
drugs.
Across the country, an average of one alcohol-related traffic death occurs every 51 minutes. Alcohol and drug impairment remain significant factors in nearly 40 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in Illinois. Each year in Illinois, hundreds of lives are lost in alcohol-related crashes. Don't risk losing your license, your car, and your freedom. If you drive impaired, law enforcement will arrest you.
There will also be an Occupant Restraint Enforcement Patrols (OREP) in White and Hamilton counties during the month of March.
OREP allows the ISP to target an area with saturation patrols that focus on traffic violations and related compliance with safety belt and child safety seat laws. Safety belt enforcement zones will also be set up to ensure the driver and passengers are buckled up. Illinois law requires all vehicle passengers (front and back) to be buckled up!
Safety belts are one of the most effective safety devices in vehicles today, estimated to save over 12,000 lives each year. Over half of vehicle occupants killed in a traffic crash were not properly buckled up. The objective of this program is to increase compliance of occupant
restraint laws through education, child seat inspections, and enforcement. Greater awareness, acceptance, and use of occupant protection equipment will save many lives.
These projects are funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Safety.