To all my Illinois friends..and those who will be travelling through it...

IDOT, Tollway and State Police Warn Drivers to Prepare for Highway Construction Season

New tools this year include increased fines, loss of license and photo enforcement

Illinois will begin using photo radar in freeway work zones in July.
Second offense tickets are $1,000 with license suspension. Beginning in
July the State of Illinois will use speed cameras in areas designated as
"Work Zones" on major freeways. Anyone caught by these devices will be
mailed a $375.00 ticket for the FIRST offense, but the SECOND offense will
cost $1000.00 and comes with a 90-Day suspension. Drivers will also
receive demerit points against their license, which allows insurance
companies to raise their rates. This represents the harshest penalty
structure yet for a city or state using PHOTO enforcements. The State will
begin with TWO camera vans issuing tickets in work zones with speed limits
lowered to 45 MPH. Photographs of both the Driver's face and License plate
are taken.
Pass this on to everyone you know !!!!
for more info: http://www.dot.state.il.us/press/r033005.html



Under enhanced penalties passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich last year, first-time work zone speeders, including those caught on camera, will be hit with a fine of $375, with $125 of that sum going to pay off-duty State Troopers to provide added enforcement in construction or maintenance zones. Two-time offenders are subject to a $1,000 fine, including a $250 surcharge to hire Troopers, and the loss of their license for 90 days.

Starting in July, State Troopers will deploy specially equipped vans that can take photographs of drivers speeding in IDOT and Tollway construction and maintenance zones. Tickets will be issued by mail to vehicle owners.

In addition, drivers who hit a worker are subject for up to a $10,000 fine and 14 years in prison.

Gov. Blagojevich has set of goal of reducing traffic deaths to fewer than 1,000 a year by 2008. The work zone speeding crackdown is just one of the ways state transportation and law enforcement are working together to accomplish that goal.