Woodstock Police - July Initiative

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
July 4, 2009

This month Woodstock police officers will be focusing on impaired driving or, more directly, on moving violations that are characteristic of impaired drivers. Whatever that means.

Any driving violation could be "characteristic" of impaired driving. Stopping past the stop bar at an intersection. Speeding. Illegal passing. Tailgating. Failing to signal a turn. Driving out of the police station parking lot without making a full stop before crossing the sidewalk.

Forget to signal a turn, and you might find yourself stopped and ordered out of the car to "walk a straight line."

OK, so no one likes a drunk driver. They are dangerous.

The statistics in the press release for the July Initiative are incomplete. "In 2007 nearly 13,000 people died nationwide in highway crashes involving a drier with a BAC of .08 or higher." OK, so, out of how many?

In Illinois? 434 fatalities related to DUI. But out of how many?

You can't tell from the press release, but fatalities related to DUIs are about 40% of the total traffic fatalities, whether nationally or in Illinois.

Don't do it. It's just not worth it.