Traffic deaths drop in Illinois during Labor Day weekend

Posted on September 13, 2017

Illinois State Police report five traffic deaths during the Labor Day weekend. (Photo courtesy Facebook/IllinoisStatePolice)

By WJBC Staff

SPRINGFIELD – Traffic deaths dropped by 78 percent over the Labor Day weekend in Illinois.

Five people died in five separate crashes during the holiday, that compares to 19 deaths in 23 crashes in 2016. Illinois State Police Sergeant Mike Link said stepped up enforcement helped to keep fatalities down.

“We had troopers out looking for the fatal four offenses; distracted driving, DUI, not wearing a seat belt speeding,” Link said. “Basically those are the most common causes of fatal traffic crashes and that’s what we did a lot of focus on last weekend.”

Although one death is too many, Link said they are pleased with the decline.

“It’s always a good sign,” Link said. “We would like that to be zero because there are still people who lost loves ones due to those traffic crashes.”

Link said troopers issued more than 3,000 speeding tickets and 765 tickets for not wearing a seatbelt over the Labor Day weekend.

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