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Police plan weekend traffic crackdown

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By Dustin Lemmon | Friday, May 9, 2008 11:39 PM CDT | () comments

Police on both sides of the river began a heavy traffic enforcement campaign Friday that will last at least through Sunday, primarily on area interstates.

Illinois State Police and Iowa State Patrol are teaming up for the first time in what they’re calling the Iowa-Illinois Bridge Detail.

The ongoing project will feature other special joint details throughout the summer, trooper Jason Wilson of the Illinois State Police said.

“This is the first time I’m aware of the two states are coming together to do this,” Wilson said, adding they hope it will build relations between state police in both states.

Local police departments also are participating.

Wilson said troopers already were getting feedback from the public Friday with several citizens commenting about the number of officers they’d seen on the interstates.

“It makes a difference when people see it,” trooper Dan Loussaert of the Iowa State Patrol said. “People slow down as they’re leaving the state and then they see the officers in Illinois.”

Loussaert said this weekend was picked to begin the detail because of Mother’s Day and the number of people who will be traveling.

“It’s probably every mother’s nightmare if somebody in their family gets hurt,” Loussaert noted.

While it is called a bridge detail the troopers are not focusing strictly on area bridges. On Friday, Bettendorf officers were stopping motorists north of the Interstate 74 bridge and an Illinois State Police motorcycle trooper was doing radar about a mile south of the bridge.

Davenport police and Iowa State troopers also used a police airplane Friday to catch various motorists for speeding and committing other violations, Loussaert said.

Wilson said the detail focuses on what police call the “fatal five,” which includes driving under the influence, speeding, failure to wear a seatbelt, improper lane use and following too closely.

They also will enforce move over laws in both states, which require drivers to switch to the farthest lane when they see a stopped emergency vehicle, Wilson said. If it’s not safe to change lanes they must slow down, he explained.

Wilson said the Illinois State Police motorcycle bureau, which is based in Springfield but has troopers all over the state, has sent some members to help in the Quad-Cities. Troopers on motorcycles are harder for motorists to spot and they catch violations other troopers don’t see, Wilson explained.

“They blend in with traffic,” Wilson said.

This weekend’s detail could include some special enforcement past Sunday if enough troopers are free to participate, Wilson said.

Wilson said Illinois State Police will also conduct their annual “Alive on the I’s” campaign over Memorial Day weekend, which has a trooper stationed every 10 miles on the interstate to watch for speeders and other traffic violations.

Moline police also announced this week that they are using a $61,000 Illinois Department of Transportation grant to crack down on speeders for six months.

They are focusing on Avenue of the Cities and 4th, 12th and 19th avenues because they have the highest number of traffic violations and crashes, police said.

Moline already used the grant for radar enforcement in November and March and issued around 350 citations.

Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com.