Grayslake police emphasize nighttime enforcement

The Grayslake Police Department will be focusing on the most deadly time of day for motor vehicle fatalities for the 2012 Labor Day “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” Impaired Driving Crackdown.

Law enforcement in Illinois this Labor Day is placing special emphasis on impaired driving and seat belt enforcement during the late night hours. Data shows a very disproportionate number of fatal traffic crashes on Illinois roadways occur late at night, and a very high percentage of these fatalities involve alcohol and motorists who have failed to buckle up. The stepped-up enforcement will run through Labor Day, Sept. 3.

According to data from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the midnight to 3 a.m. time frame is the deadliest time on Illinois roads. Not coincidentally, the data also shows this time of day has the highest percentage of alcohol involvement and the lowest occupant restraint use.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 5 through 24. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, 10,228 people were killed in U.S. highway crashes involving a driver with an illegal BAC of 0.08 or higher in 2010; 289,260 crashes occurred in 2010 on Illinois roadways, of those crashes, 927 persons were killed in 858 fatal motor vehicle crashes. The average cost per death in 2010 was $1,290,000 and the cost per nonfatal disabling injury was $67,800.

The numbers do not lie, the night time is the wrong time for motor vehicle fatalities so the Grayslake Police Department will be stepping up late-night enforcement efforts, making sure impaired drivers are off the road and motorists are buckled up. No one should ever get that late night knock on the door from law enforcement telling them that an impaired driver has killed their loved one.