Palos Park Police Step Up St. Paddy's Day Patrols

PALOS PARK, IL -- Don’t let your smilin’ Irish eyes fill with tears because you got a DUI on St. Patrick’s Day. Palos Park police will be stepping up patrols looking for signs of impaired or distracted driving starting Friday, March 16, and continuing through the early morning hours of Sunday, March 18.

St. Patrick’s Day is one of the deadliest holidays due the number of drunk drivers on the road. This year the holiday falls on Saturday, March 17, which means a lot of parties at homes, bars and other venues. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period from 2010 to 2014, 266 lost their lives due to drunk-driving crashes. In 2014 alone, 29 people (28 percent of all crash fatalities) were killed in drunk-driving crashes over this period.

Choosing to drive drunk can ruin or end the life of the driver and others around them. If you are in Palos Park and have had too much to drink, call Palos Park Police Chief Joe Miller on his cell phone, 708-259-1035. The chief or police officers will come pick you up and get you home safe -- no questions asked and no lectures about the evils of drinking. Officers will not ferry St. Patrick’s Day revellers to another bar or party.

If you plan to celebrate the driving of the snakes out of Ireland this weekend, make a plan:

• Before you go out, have a plan for getting home safely at the end of the night.
• Before you start drinking, designated a sober driver and leave your car keys at home.
• If you’re impaired, call a taxi or ride sharing service, call a sober friend or family member, use public transportation, or give Chief Joe Miller a call at 708-259-1035.