State Police have announced the results of two special patrols conducted in Marion County during June.
There were 35 citations issued during an occupant restraint enforcement patrol in Marion and Richland County where extra patrols focused on saving lives by making sure all vehicle occupants were buckled up. 29 of the citations were for safety belt citations and one for a child restraint citation. There were three total written warnings. State Police say lives can be saved if people simply ‘buckle up’.
There were 18 citations issued during Nighttime Enforcement patrols in Marion and Effingham Counties. The patrols focus on preventing, detecting, and taking enforcement action in response to impaired driving and occupant restraint violations especially between the hours of six pm and six am. Ten of the violations were for registration offenses, five for occupant restraint offense, two for drivers license offenses and one apiece for insurance and alcohol/drug citations. Alcohol and drug impairment are factors in more than 30 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in Illinois, with half of the crashes occurring at night. The NITE program allows officers to work even harder at removing dangerous impaired drivers form the road and making sure everyone is buckled up.
Both of the special patrols are funded through the Illinois Department of Transportation.
