CHICAGO — Chicago Police and Illinois State Police plan extra patrols this weekend to look for drunken drivers on city streets and expressways, authorities said.
The effort will include a roadside safety check on the southbound exit of the Dan Ryan Expy. to 87th Street from 11 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday.
"Last year over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, 17 people lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes in Illinois. Six of those fatalities involved drunk drivers," said Scott Kristiansen of the Illinois Department of Transportation's Division of Public Safety.
"This is one of the deadliest holidays of the year when it comes to traffic fatalities. The Fourth of July can be deadly for two reasons: drinking and driving and failing to wear seatbelts."
In the last five years, 58 people have been killed in car accidents over the Independence Day Weekend in Illinois, and 50 percent of those crashes involved a driver who had been drinking, Kristiansen said.
Chicago Police and the state police will be among law enforcement agencies across the state putting in thousands of extra hours to conduct roadside safety checks, seatbelt enforcement zones and hundreds of saturation patrols, according to a press release for IDOT.
The effort is being funded with more than $1 million in federal money.
Through Wednesday, 392 people have died in car crashes so far this year, 85 less than the same period last year. Authorities said they're conducting this weekend's crackdown to continue the downward trend.
Drivers arrested for DUI face jail time, the loss of their driver's license, higher insurance rates and dozens of unanticipated expenses. The average cost of a DUI is $16,000, said Mike Witter of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"This pales in comparison to the tragedy that drunk driving costs families," Witter said. "But it happens every single day in this country."
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