Slow down on Route 66: Illinois law enforcement, state agencies watching for speeders

Joliet — Representatives from several national and state agencies are keeping a close eye on traffic safety and speeding along the famed Route 66.

Representatives from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois State Police, and local law enforcement branches, as well as the Illinois Route 66 Museum, held a press conference Tuesday in downtown Joliet to commemorate Illinois Speed Awareness Day and the national “Speeding Slows You Down” campaign.

The event, which was held at Joliet Junior College’s City Center Campus, was intended to raise awareness on the dangers of speeding while driving and inform the public about measures that are being taken to enforce speeding laws in Illinois and along historic Route 66 from Illinois to California.

Illinois first created Speed Awareness Day in 2016 as an effort to combat traffic injuries and fatalities.

“In 2014 and 2015, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police’s Traffic Safety Committee discovered that speeding was a growing problem and we decided to promote Speed Awareness Day,” said Scott Kristiansen, law enforcement liaison supervisor for the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.

“We’ve been making it bigger and better every year, but during COVID (pandemic) things changed,” Kristiansen said. “During that time, there were fewer people on the road, and the average driving speed increased because there was less traffic.”

Drivers became more comfortable driving at higher speeds, and it became a habit, Kristiansen said.

“But just because people are more comfortable driving at 70, 80, 90 miles per hour doesn’t mean it’s safer,” he said.

Post-COVID, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police reached out to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for Region 5, which in addition to Illinois includes Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin to expand its speeding awareness program.

Regional Administrator of NHTSA Region 5 Jonlee Anderle noted that this was the second year of the larger regional and national effort to reduce speeding in the Midwest and along Route 66, which is frequented by domestic and international tourists during the summer.

“We want to emphasize two factors – that speeding slows you down, because if you draw attention of law enforcement and get a ticket, you’re going to lose more time than you saved by speeding, and that speeding catches up with you, because there are consequences,” Anderle said.

Anderle noted that 12,151 people were killed in speeding-related crashes in the country in 2022 with more than 300,000 more injured, including life-altering injuries like paralysis and brain damage.

“It shouldn’t come as any surprise that speeding is a major factor in crashes,” Anderle said. “For me, it’s just mind-boggling when you think that every one of those numbers is a name and a missing seat at a dinner table. Some of the consequences are unimaginable.”

As part of the speeding awareness push, local police forces, including more than 200 in Illinois, including Joliet, will be increasing patrols for speeding thanks in part to grants from IDOT.

According to Lt. Col. Jason Bradley of the Illinois State Police, there have already been more than 34,000 speeding tickets written in Illinois in the first half of 2024.

“We take speeding seriously, because it is serious,” Bradley said. “Everyone has places we need to go, but it’s never the right to decision to put ourselves, our families, and other drivers at risk to get there a few minutes early.”

Route 66 has become a focus of the program with the historic roadway’s 100th anniversary approaching in 2026, which is expected to increase tourist traffic along the route.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is hosting similar events with local officials at multiple locations along Route 66 in the coming weeks to increase awareness and Joliet plans to increase patrols of the route, especially in the summer, when Kristiansen pointed out the highest number of deadly speed crashes occur.

“There are a lot of crashes in winter, but those usually happen due to road conditions at slower speeds, which makes the heart of summer when people are on vacation the deadlier time when people are going to concerts and ballgames and taking long trips,” Kristiansen said.

“A road trip isn’t just about the destination, it’s about the ride and all the things you’ll find on the way. But if you’re speeding, you may miss out – or you just might never arrive at all.”