A roadside safety check held by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday night resulted in several arrests, including two drivers charged with driving under the influence with minors in the car.
According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, the safety check was held from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. at the intersection of Lewis Avenue and Beach Road in Beach Park. The effort resulted in three DUI arrests, four felony weapon charges and two felony drug busts, police said.
Two of those arrested for DUI had passengers in the vehicle who were under the age of 12, police said.
A total of 45 citations were written.
“A roadside safety check is an effective tool for generating voluntary compliance by the motoring public” Sheriff Mark Curran said in a statement. “The potential to come across these checks encourages motorists to arrange designated drivers, keep their consumption of alcohol within the allowable limits or not drive a motor vehicle after drinking. It also encourages drivers and passengers to use their seat belt.”
Curran said alcohol and drug impairment are significant factors in over 40 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in Illinois.
“Each year in Illinois hundreds of lives are lost in alcohol-related crashes,” he said.
The sheriff’s office will continue extra enforcement in May, with a roadside safety check scheduled from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. May 1 at an undisclosed location in unincorporated Lake County. Extra deputies will be on the streets looking for impaired drivers the following weekend as well, officials said.
The roadside safety checks are funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Administration. The grant is administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety.
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