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City, State Police To Crack Down on Drunken Drivers This Holiday Weekend

By Alex Nitkin | September 3, 2015 2:22pm
 Illinois State Police Capt. David Byrd discusses renewed efforts to keep drunk drivers off the roads.
Illinois State Police Capt. David Byrd discusses renewed efforts to keep drunk drivers off the roads.
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DNAinfo/Alex Nitkin

GRANT PARK — Police will be stepping up efforts to keep drunken drivers off the roads this weekend, officials announced in a news conference Thursday.

Between Thursday and Monday, Illinois State Police will send extra "saturation teams" to crawl the expressways in search of reckless drivers, according to Capt. David Byrd. The crews will be out between midnight and 5 a.m. every morning, he said.

Chicago Police will also "step up law enforcement" to "crack down on drunk driving" over the holiday weekend, according to Lt. Salvador Avila. He did not specify how the department would change enforcement, but he pointed to the ongoing "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" advertising campaign as a continued effort to keep drunk people off the road.

"These increased, highly visible enforcement campaigns are conducted annually to send a strong message to would-be drunk drivers," Avila said.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Illinois in 2013 saw 322 traffic deaths that were traced to drunken driving.

"This is a constant battle for us ... every night we're trying to get that number to come down," Byrd said after the press conference. "Every time we can take a drunk driver off the road, we have to assume that we're saving a life."

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