Drive sober or get pulled over. Drive high and get a DUI.

That’s the message from the Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois State Police as Halloween approaches. 

That’s IDOT spokesperson Paull Wappel. He says that over 1,000 people have died in crashes in Illinois through Oct. 20th. Through the same time period last year, there have been 84 more fatalities this year. 

Traffic fatalities are on the rise and that means an escalation of law enforcement on the roads over Halloween aiming to keep impaired drivers off the roads to save lives. 

If you plan to drink this Halloween, IDOT says to designate a sober ride home or use your community’s designated driver program if available. If you are driving and see an impaired driver, call 911. 

As always, make sure you and everyone in the vehicle wears a seatbelt.