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| State Police Again Urging Against Distracted Driving |
On Saturday night, February 27, at approximately 9:00pm, an Illinois State Trooper was performing her duties on a Chicago Expressway and was struck by a distracted motorist believed to be talking on a cell phone. The Trooper was rushed to the hospital with life threatening injuries. She is recovering from injuries to her neck, femur, pelvis and compound fractures to both shins. The distracted motorist was charged with Aggravated Reckless Conduct (Class 4 felony), Move Over Law and several other traffic offenses.
Monday morning (March 1), locally a District 7 Trooper was directing traffic on I-74 East Bound during a truck tractor recovery. The right lane was partially shut down for the protection of the tow truck operators during the recovery efforts. While the Trooper was outside of his vehicle directing traffic, he was forced to jump out of the way when a vehicle failed to move over and slow down. The reason the driver failed to comply with the "Move Over" law was because the driver was reading his email. If the Trooper was not aware of his surroundings, this situation would have been dire and his injuries severe up to and including death. The driver was issued citations for Failure to Yield to a Stationary Emergency Vehicle (Move Over Law) and Texting While Driving. The penalties for these charges are: a mandatory court appearance and driver’s license suspension with a $200 fine for the former and a $75 moving violation for the latter.
These situations are only two of hundreds that occur everyday on our roads. It is truly unfortunate; because they don’t have to happen. When a driver sits behind the wheel, he/she must make many decisions. "Drivers see these decisions as minor thoughts throughout their day, not life or death. Everyone must get over this way of thinking and take their driving decisions and behaviors seriously." states Captain Jeffrey Patterson, District 7 Commander. The first decision should be to buckle up before the car is put into gear. Once that car has been put in gear every driver should be focused on driving and their surroundings to prevent injuries to themselves, their loved ones and other motorists they share the road with. These people on the road are not strangers to our communities; they are neighbors, friends, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, husbands, wives and perhaps the most disturbing, our children. "Leave your mind, eyes and hands to driving and always move over or if unable, slow down, when approaching stationary emergency or maintenance vehicles," states Captain Patterson.
(Illinois State Police) |
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| 03 06 10 by Newsroom |
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