Crystal Lake Police Heighten Enforcement Efforts for 4th of July Holiday

The Crystal Lake Police Department has announced plans for the 2013 “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over/Click It or Ticket” crackdown for the Independence Day period.

The stepped-up enforcement began Friday, June 28, and will run through Sunday, July 7. Enforcement efforts will concentrate primarily on the overnight hours between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to Crystal Lake Police Commander Dan Dziewior.

The intensified enforcement effort against drunk drivers and seat belt law violators underscores the disproportionate number of traffic deaths caused by alcohol consumption and failure to buckle up.

Fifty-two percent of the 21,253 people killed in 2011 were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration.

Deaths involving seat belt non-use are more prevalent at night than during the daytime. According to NHTSA, 62 percent of the 10,135 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2011 during the overnight hours of 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m. were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.

The Crystal Lake Police Department recommends designating a sober driver and not letting friends and family drive drunk as just two of several simple steps to avoid a tragic crash, or an arrest for drunk driving.

The law enforcement crackdown runs concurrently with a media campaign that reminds motorists to “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” and “Click It or Ticket,” and is administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation with funds made available via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to Dziewior.