Palos Cops Don’t Want You Driving ‘Blitzen’ During The Holidays

Palos Heights, Hills and Park police are paying extra attention to the roads and streets during the Christmas and New Year holiday season for impaired and distracted drivers. Police in all three Paloses, as well as many other surrounding communities, will ramp up DUI patrols through Jan. 2.

Palos Park police will have all hands on deck to target intoxicated drivers over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, with the aim of its enforcement campaign is to drastically reduce death and injuries caused by aggressive, reckless, distracted, and impaired driving.

"We want everyone to have a great time with friends and family over the holidays, but to keep everyone safe, we are also urging people to be responsible, make smart choices and plan for a sober ride home,” said Dan Polk, police commissioner for Palos Park.

Over in Palos Heights, police are partnering with the Illinois Department of Transportation to spread the word about the dangers of impaired driving with a “Driver Sober or Get Pulled Over” and “Drive High. Get a DUI” enforcement campaign.

From Dec. 15 through Jan. 2, law enforcement across Illinois, including many area police departments, will show zero tolerance for alcohol- and drug-impaired driving to keep roads safe and help ensure a happy holiday season.

“If you’ll be celebrating with festive drinks or other impairing substances, make a plan for a safe ride home before you leave for the party,” said Chief William Czajkowski, of the Palos Heights Police Department. “Driving impaired is simply unacceptable. That’s why we make zero exceptions and arrest all impaired drivers. There are no excuses.”

You may want to buckle those seatbelts, too.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, in the United States in 2021, a total of 13,384 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver. On average, more than 10,000 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes each year from 2017 to 2021, with one person killed in a drunk-driving crash approximately every 45 minutes.

These fatalities are preventable, and drivers must remember that driving impaired — by alcohol, cannabis or any other substance, whether legal or not — is potentially deadly and illegal behavior.

Although these tips have been said many times, many ways, they are worth repeating:

• Before you head to the party, designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation or a ride-sharing service to get home safely.
• If you see an impaired driver on the road, call 9-1-1.
• Have a friend who is about to drive impaired? Take their keys and help them get home safely.
• Always buckle up.

The holiday enforcement effort is made possible by federal traffic safety funds administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation.