Traffic Crackdown on Route 83 in Cook County Set for Friday

PALOS PARK, IL — Palos Park Police Department is joining forces with the Clarendon Hills Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies along the Illinois Route 83 corridor through Cook and DuPage County in a special traffic safety campaign Friday, September 30th, 2016.

The purpose of the campaign is to increase the safety of motorists utilizing the thoroughfare through education and traffic enforcement.

Our efforts will be concentrated on speed, occupant restraint violations, driving under the influence and other safety violations observed during our enforcement.

Every municipal police agency with jurisdiction over Illinois Route 83 has been invited to participate in the traffic safety campaign. Each jurisdiction has been asked to implement their own enforcement action based upon the needs of their communities.

Police agencies will participate in a 24-hour operation and focus on seat belt use, speeding, distracted driving (cell phone use), impaired driving, and Scott’s Law violations, according to a press release. Scott’s Law, commonly referred to as the “Move Over Law,” was created after the death of Chicago Fire Lieutenant Scott Gillen. Lt. Gillen was struck by an impaired driver on the Dan Ryan Expressway while responding to a motor vehicle crash in 2000.

The law mandates that if there is an emergency vehicle stopped on the roadway, drivers must:

• Proceed with due caution as yielding to the right-of-way, by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent to that of the authorized emergency vehicle
• Reduce the speed of the vehicle while maintaining a safe speed for road conditions (if changing lanes would be impossible or unsafe)

All participating agencies hope to create awareness and continue to educate the public on the dangers of these violations, according to the news release.

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