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Police Planning Crackdown On Drunk Driving For Fourth Of July Weekend

(CBS) -- The Fourth of July is the most dangerous day of the year to be on the roads.

WBBM's Mike Krauser reports more people are killed in traffic crashes and about a third of the crashes involve drunk drivers. With that in mind, police are saying your odds of getting pulled over this holiday weekend will increase dramatically.

Police Planning Crackdown On Drunk Driving For Fourth Of July Weekend

Charlotte Kormendy can tell you all about the cost of drunk driving, as her father was killed by one.

"It might have been easier to accept his death had he had died of cancer or a heart attack or something like that. I would have had the opportunity to say I love you one last time," said Kormendy. "I would have had the opportunity to say thank you so much for teaching me everything that you did. I was robbed of that opportunity. In fact what I was left with was the last conversation I had with my father were words of anger."

And they never talked again.

For police, the message is pretty simple says CPD traffic section sergeant Scott Slavin.

"Illinois motorists on the roads, during late-night hours, particularly after midnight, need to know that if they drink and drive or they drive unbelted, we will find you."

The average cost of a DUI arrest in Illinois is $16,000, according to Mike Witter of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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