Improper use of red lights/sirens must stop

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
July 24, 2010

This afternoon I was heading south on Route 47 from Woodstock, when traffic stopped. Cars in front of me were stopping in the traffic lane and partially on the shoulder. Down the road, northbound, I could see some flashing lights and then I heard a siren.

Was it a deputy enroute to an emergency? Was it an ambulance headed to the hospital?

No, it was a deputy in a McHenry County Sheriff's Department squad car (583) leading what looked like a parade of motorcycles. Emergency lights and the siren of the squad car were in use, and that's why southbound traffic stopped. As the parade passed the stopped cars, many motorcyclists honked their horns.

Toward the rear of the pack one smaller motorcycle (perhaps a 750cc) had a windshield behind which there was a flashing red light mounted about halfway toward the top of its windshield.

I called the sheriff's department and left a message for the shift supervisor. About 30 minutes later Sgt. Campos-Cruz called me back. Sgt. Cruz explained that the group was a Warriors Watch (or group of similar name and purpose) that had requested a police escort for the member of the military returning from overseas. The deputy had met then at the McHenry County line and was escorting them northbound.

I wasn't at all interested in the part of the explanation that they provide escorts for funeral processions or honor guards for the bodies of fallen soldiers. That was not today's convoy. Today it was a squad car leading a bunch of motorcycles.

I know of nothing in the Illinois Vehicle Code that grants authority for such use of red lights and sirens. The only reason they do it is because they can do it and get away with it. I was certain that the deputy was not acting on his own. Someone with authority had approved it.

After all, who is going to stop them and write a ticket? There was even a Woodstock police car stopped in a driveway south of Cobblestone Way; perhaps that car was waiting to escort them through Woodstock.

There was just a serious accident on Greenwood Road last Wednesday. What's going to happen if there is a serious crash involving such a convoy?

Emergency lights and sirens have a specific purpose. They are to be used for emergencies. Leading a parade of motorcycles is not an emergency! The command personnel at the sheriff's department should have the courage to refuse such escort requests and explain to anyone asking for such escort that there is no authority in the State law to "light up" for such a convoy.

What, for example, happens when a traffic light turns red on the group? While a funeral can proceed (safely) against a red light or stop sign, a celebration/convoy cannot. Do they stop? Probably not.

I am not anti-military. I am not anti-American. I am anti-law-breaking. This must stop!