According to an online news report by Carmitimes.com, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has begun making efforts to help reduce roadway fatalities in Illinois this year. Our Chicago car accident lawyers read that starting July 9th, IDOT began a statewide digital message board campaign in conjunction with social media and Internet page presence in order to decrease driver negligence and ultimately decrease the number of fatalities on roadways for the remainder of the year.
The report states that provisional crash data released that 479 fatalities have occurred on Illinois roadways this year, as compared to 418 fatalities during the same time frame last year. An Illinois transportation secretary spoke out concerning this fact, saying, “This inventive campaign is about using the resources at hand to help inform the public, save lives, and prevent crashes from occurring as much as possible. Simply stated, our goal is to drive zero fatalities to reality.”
IDOT has planned to create driver awareness through the use of statewide messaging boards. The agency plans to rotate five key traffic safety messages daily, including “Don’t Drink & Drive,” “Don’t Text & Drive,” “Save a Life, Buckle Up,” “Stay off the Phone in Work Zones” and “Motorcyclists, Gear Up, Drive Safe.” In addition to these messages, the boards will post the daily traffic fatality count to make more of an impact on drivers and to remind them of the severity of motorist negligence.
Our Illinois auto accident lawyers learned that these statewide messaging boards are primarily reserved for emergencies or traffic incident management alerts related to accidents, detours, travel times, lane closures, weather alerts, construction, or maintenance operation information. These specific messages will take precedence over the traffic information campaign, and safety campaign messages will only be posted during times when such emergency alerts are not required. “We want all Illinois motorists to take a role in our fight against impaired and distracted driving, and strongly welcome the efforts of all concerned residents to help create awareness of the need to lower traffic-related fatalities,” stated the Illinois transportation secretary.
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