Police to crack down on New Year's Eve drunk drivers

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If you’re going out tonight, you’ve probably given some thought to what shoes you’ll wear or who you might kiss at midnight.

But, authorities say, you also need to think about how you’ll get home well before you order your first alcoholic drink or pop the cork of the first champagne bottle.

New Year’s Eve doesn’t provide the setting for as many drunken-driving accidents and other incidents as it once did, but several local police departments will have extra officers targeting drunken drivers as residents ring in 2009.

“It’s amateur night,” Fox Lake Police Chief Mike Behan said. “We all know it is. People who don’t normally drink do it to keep up with the boss or with friends.”

Lake in the Hills will have two extra units patrolling for drunken drivers between 11:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. Algonquin will have three to five extra officers on the street during the night. McHenry plans to have a couple extra officers on later shifts, but leaders could ask officers from earlier shifts to stay later if need be, McHenry Police Sgt. Laura King said.

Huntley police will have their normal crew of four officers and a sergeant on patrol, partly because police see more alcohol-related problems on the day before Thanksgiving and on St. Patrick’s Day.

“With the tougher laws out there and more education, I think people are starting to become a little more careful,” Huntley Deputy Chief Todd Fulton said.

Fox Lake police will have normal patrol levels tonight, but extra officers are volunteering to drive partiers home, Behan said. Last year, they gave 23 people free rides within village limits. Call 847-587-3100 to arrange a ride.

Behan, who remembers telling parents that their college-aged son died in an alcohol-related accident in 1986, started the program in 2005.

“If we don’t have any more deaths [tonight,] I’ll be happy,” Behan said.

Allstar Towing and Transport Inc. of Huntley has a similar offer. The fleet of eight tow trucks will give free rides and free tows within a 10-mile radius of the intersection of Algonquin and Randall roads, said Mike Lyp, who owns the company with his wife. Call 847-659-1015.

“I want to do it all year round,” Lyp said. “If someone was at the bar and needed a ride home, I’d make an exception.”

A free ride

Fox Lake police are offering free rides within the village limits. Call 847-587-3100.

Allstar Towing and Transport Inc. of Huntley will offer free rides or tows within a 10-mile radius of Algonquin and Randall roads. Call 847-659-1015.