As the holiday season rolls through the weekend, several law enforcement offices, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Secretary of State are urging drivers to drive sober.
According to IDOT, in 2016 there were nine driving fatalities on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day – with two of them related to alcohol.
Illinois State Police trooper Jason Wilson tells WGIL that Triple-A is expecting 107-million travelers to be on roads this holiday season, “To really put that in context to everybody, that’s basically 1/3 of America’s population going to be mobilized throughout the holiday season”
He added this, “Please make sure you’re paying to the roads. Put your phone down. Put your seat belt on. Obey the speed limit, and do not get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol or some type of drugs.”
In 2016, a total of 1,078 people lost their lives on Illinois roads and Wilson says that this year has already crossed a threshold that they try to prevent.
“At this moment [we’re] at 1,042 fatal crashes as of this morning. Unfortunately we’ve broken that thousand-fatality ceiling that we try to avoid every year, and we still have the busiest part of the travel coming up.”
Don’t ruin anyone’s festivities this holiday season – is what the state police say in a release.
Wilson says to drive responsibly behind the wheel, and if you see someone driving recklessly – call 911 and give them a description of the vehicle, their location, and the direction they’re driving so the authorities can address it.
