State and local police are preparing for one of their busiest weekends of the year. The Super Bowl has become a major party weekend, so officers will be out in force trying to find drunken drivers.
Jason Wilson from the Illinois State Police, District 7 based in East Moline, says during Super Bowl weekend last year troopers issued more than 1,700 tickets across Illinois for drunken driving, plus speeding, distracted driving, and not wearing seat belts.
"195 people were arrested for being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. But also last year we had two fatal crashes in the state that resulted from alcohol being used and then the driver got behind the wheel and unfortunately made the wrong choice and there were two lives paid for because of that."
And it's not just on Sunday, the day of the big game - parties and the need for extra patrols start on Friday night, and continue through Sunday night.
Wilson says a growing problem is distracted driving.
"What we're seeing is there's a lot of people driving distracted out there - they're doing a good job not getting behind the wheel under the influence, but then they go and pick up the phone, they turn around and talk to their passengers, they're looking out the windows, or they're looking within the vehicle - they're not paying attention to the road."
State figures show drunken driving causes more fatal traffic accidents, but the total number of crashes caused by distracted driving is many times higher than dui.
