Wilmette Police Stepping Up Traffic Enforcement for Thanksgiving

The Wilmette Police Department is participating in a stepped-up traffic enforcement campaign that will target speeders, drunken drivers and those not wearing seat belts.

The “Thanksgiving mobilization” began Monday and will continue through Nov. 25.

The push is the first of six traffic enforcement operations taking place between now and the end of next September, in which Wilmette police will participate in a statewide effort.

According to an Illinois Department of Transportation press release, which urged people to buckle their seat belts and drive safely, there were eight driving-related fatalities and over 800 injuries during last year’s Thanksgiving holiday.

“This stepped-up enforcement throughout Illinois will remind drivers that wearing a seat belt costs you nothing”, reads the press release, “but not wearing it could cost you a ticket, or worse — your life. The same applies when you have been drinking and choose to drive.... To lose one’s life, when it might have been saved by taking two seconds to buckle a seat belt, is truly senseless. When you are in your vehicle, no matter the distance, please remember to buckle up, every trip, every time.”

The Wilmette Police Department will be releasing information on the results of the increased traffic enforcement after the program ends.

For more information on the Illinois Click It or Ticket campaign, please visit www.buckleupillinois.org.

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