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Crime & Safety

Cops Stepping Up the Hunt for Drunk Drivers This Holiday Weekend

The campaign to hunt down impaired drivers and those not wearing seat belts will include a roadside check on Route 59 Saturday night.

Labor Day weekend is no time to be driving around without wearing a seatbelt or, worse, getting tanked and then getting behind the wheel.

have had stepped-up patrols looking for people committing both offenses since late last month, but plan to do special roadside check on Route 59 this Saturday night with the assistance of the Will County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office also plans on stepping up their enforcement by having more deputies out on the road, spokesman Kathy Hoffmeyer said.

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“It’s just kind of an overall, ‘We are watching you,’ seatbelt-DUI enforcement for the holiday,” she said.

Other than assisting Plainfield on Saturday, the department is not planing any targeted campaigns beyond having more manpower in all of Will County's unincorporated areas, Hoffmeyer said.

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The general dragnet is the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” impaired driving crackdown. Midnight to 3 a.m. is the deadliest time on the roads, according to Illinois Department of Transportation data.

“The numbers do not lie,” Will County Deputy Sheriff Ken Kaupas said. “We will be stepping up our late-night enforcement efforts, making sure impaired drivers are off the road and motorists are buckled up.”

Over Labor Day weekend last year, 12 people in Illinois died in car crashes, although only one involved an impaired driver, according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office press release. That same weekend, 763 people were injured.e

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