MADD Illinois Partners Labor Day Drunk Driving Crackdown

Chicago, Ill. – Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Illinois joined together with law enforcement agencies nationwide to launch an unprecedented crackdown to find, arrest and ultimately deter drunk drivers this Labor Day weekend.

The statewide Illinois crackdown, You Drink & Drive. You Lose., is a part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) national crackdown which combines the mobilization of thousands of law enforcement agencies in all 50 states with an $11 million national advertising campaign to deliver the message that if you drive drunk, you will be arrested.

MADD Illinois is working with the Illinois Department of Transportation and state and local law enforcement to implement tough enforcement of drunk driving laws. These partners held a press conference today at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park to kick off the Labor Day crackdown. In Illinois, a statewide advertising campaign of more than $700,000 has been launched to raise awareness about the crackdown.

“We’re giving residents of Illinois fair warning: if you drive at or over the illegal limit of .08 this Labor Day, you will be handcuffed, arrested and put in jail,” warned Sergeant Scott Slavin of the Chicago Police Department. “We do this because it is the law. We’ve seen the gruesome crash scenes first hand, and we don’t want to see any more. High visibility enforcement saves lives and prevents injuries.” New statistics from NHTSA show that in 2005, 16,885 people were killed in alcohol related crashes, representing 39 percent of all traffic deaths. Of those fatalities, 12,945 involved a driver or motorcycle operator with a BAC of .08 or higher, the illegal limit. In Illinois, 440 people were killed in drunk driving crashes in 2005.

Law enforcement officials in Illinois will be out in full force conducting high visibility enforcement activities to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by drunk driving, one of the nation’s most frequently committed violent crimes, throughout the holiday weekend, which is historically a very dangerous period to drive.

TOP OF THE PAGE

Find a Drunk Driving Lawyer