Police striving to keep deaths at a record low

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Area law enforcement is joining Gov. Pat Quinn’s Operation Save 100 campaign to reduce traffic deaths statewide to a new low this year.

The campaign kicked in Thursday. Neither Grundy nor La Salle counties recorded any traffic fatalities for the day.

“A good thing, that’s for sure,” noted Grundy County Sheriff Terry Marketti. “I’m hoping we won’t have any traffic deaths the rest of this year – or forever.”

The record indicates six traffic deaths this year in Grundy County through Thursday.

There were 1,248 traffic fatalities in Illinois in 2007, and 1,043 last year, or 205 fewer than in 2007. As of Nov. 10, just 781 people had been killed in 2009 on Illinois highways, down from 883 on the same date last year.

If Illinois has under 1,000 traffic fatalities at the end of 2009, it will join a small, elite group of states in this category.

Working with Quinn on the campaign are Illinois State Police, the Illinois Department of Transportation Division of Traffic Safety, other law enforcement agencies, and hundreds of communities throughout the state.

Grundy County deputies are watching traffic ever more closely. They are stepping up traffic enforcement activities in their normal traffic patrol regions like small villages and rural areas. Also, on high-targeted roads like Illinois 113, Pine Bluff Road, and U.S. 6, all of which have heavy truck traffic.

In explaining Operation 100 to his deputies, Marketti told them Grundy County is 20 minutes away from Joliet, where shootings and murders are the prime focus of law enforcement officers.

“We don’t have that problem here,” he said Friday. “Here they die in traffic accidents, and deputies understand that. Our focus would be different if we were having gang shootings on our street corners.

Our focus is on what’s hurting people, and traffic accidents are what’s hurting people in Grundy County.”
Marketti said some motorists are surprised when stopped by deputies for seat belt violations, or cell phone use and text messaging.

“But, we remind them personally that should not be happening, because it’s dangerous,” he said.

Drivers also are being stopped for aggressive behavior, said the sheriff.

“Like road rage, in that someone else is driving too slow, or they want to pass them,” Marketti said. “Nothing good comes out of that, at all.”

Minooka Police Chief Doug Hayse noted his department is committed to preventing death and injury by stopping impaired driving, those who do not have their seat belts fastened, and distracted and aggressive driving.

“Everyone has the responsibility to drive sober, to wear their safety belt, to avoid distracted driving, and to not drive aggressively,” he said.

“We all play a vital role in preventing aggressive driving, and we can all help by sending a strong message to family and friends that aggressive driving is not acceptable.”

IDOT’s Division of Traffic Safety, troopers, local law enforcement agencies and community advocates are coordinating the statewide initiative to save lives and costs associated with motor vehicle crashes.

Traffic fatalities statewide have dropped from a high of 1,454 in 2003 to their lowest level since 1923.
Statistics by the National Safety Council indicate the average economic cost per traffic fatality is more than $1 million.

State Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig said Operation Save 100 will continue to be a top priority with IDOT.

The eight-week enforcement campaign will continue through the end of 2009.
 

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