St. Charles Police Crack Down on DUIs During Memorial Day Weekend

ST. CHARLES—St. Charles police will be on the lookout for drunken drivers as Memorial Day approaches, warning motorists to drive sober or get pulled over.

From now until June 1, police will be adding additional patrol vehicles to the street and diligently pulling over suspected drunken drivers and those violating seatbelt laws.

The department has teamed up with the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program to help reduce the number of crashes that result in injury or fatality as a result of not being buckled up, or as a result of impaired driving.

Officers are working in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Click It or Ticket and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over traffic campaigns.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seat belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in crashes.

NHTSA research has shown that when lap and shoulder belts are used properly, the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car occupants is reduced by 45 percent, and the risk of moderate to serious injury is reduced by 50 percent.

For more information about the Click It or Ticket and the Drive Sober Get Pulled Over programs, please visit www.buckleupillinois.org.