Tinley Police Are On Alert For Drivers On Cell Phones In April

TINLEY PARK, IL — Tinley Park Police are participating in national Distracted Driving Awareness Month and will be stoping drivers who are violating those laws — particularly those who are talking on the phone while they are driving — throughout the month of April.

"The detail will consist of Tinley Park Patrol Officers deployed throughout the month of April to an identified enforcement location," Commander Stanley J. Tencza wrote to Patch. "During their deployment the Patrol Officers will concentrate their enforcement actions on drivers who are engaging in cellular phone use."

This month, observing the awareness month has hit close to home for law enforcement officials because the 2019 has been a fatal year for state troopers, including Trooper Gerald Ellis, who was hit and killed by a man with no history of holding a driver's license and who had a record of more than 70 tickets and suspensions.

“This year, 16 Illinois State Troopers have been struck, three of them fatally, by drivers who were fatigued, distracted or impaired,” Tencza said. “The Tinley Park Police Department is committed to spreading the word that distracted driving is extremely dangerous and can cost lives.”

Police are also taking the opportunity to educate drivers about Scott’s Law, which mandates that drivers must slow down and change lanes when approaching any police or other emergency vehicle stopped along the roadway.

The law was named in honor of Lt. Scott Gillen of the Chicago Fire Department, who was struck and killed by drunk driver while assisting at a crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway in 2000.