The Morton Police Department will participate in the statewide “Click It or Ticket” campaign scheduled to take place between Friday and Nov. 29. The enforcement will take place day and night and consist of seat-belt enforcement zones and roving patrols.
The department recently received a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety in the amount of $5,368.16. The grant will allow for hire-back enforcement during Thanksgiving 2009 and Memorial Day 2010.
The seat-belt enforcement will coincide with the department’s involvement in Operation Save 100, an initiative by Gov. Pat Quinn to save 100 motorist lives between Friday and Dec. 31. If this is accomplished, Illinois will have a motor vehicle fatality rate below 1,000 for the year. These levels have not been seen since 1921. As recently as 2003, 1,454 motorists lost their lives in crashes on Illinois roads and highways.
The department also announced that they were recipients of a Mobile Alcohol Patrol Grant for the third consecutive year. The grant for $20,051.09 was awarded by IDOT’s Division of Traffic Safety, and will allow for hire-back enforcement for eight campaigns throughout 2009 and 2010. The enforcements are aimed at alcohol violations, occupant restraint and other moving violations that have been identified as contributing to personal injury traffic crashes. Those patrols begin Friday and will run through September 2010.
For more information, contact Sgt. Shawn Darche at 266-6666.
