(Photo By Flickr User Dave Herholz)

The number of accidents continues to rise throughout the state of Illinois and down in the Capital City.

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and WICS-TV, in July of 2016, there were 544 fatal crash victims. This year, there have been 559 fatal crash victims.

Although the number of accidents is increasing statewide, the number of accidents in Springfield has dropped, according to the Springfield Police Department.

This past June there were 400 accidents in Springfield, a 7-percent decrease compared to June of 2016.

Officers have increased their patrols in the last month in an effort to reduce accidents. Now, they say their efforts seem to be working.

Sgt. Kris Rhodes with the Springfield Police Department. said,

“The reason we’ve been increasing traffic enforcement is to reduce the factors that lead to traffic crashes.”

Those factors include disobeying traffic signals, distracted driving, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.

Officers perform details where they look for those violations at high crash intersections like Dirksen Parkway and Sangamon Avenue. In June 2017, there were 20 accidents at that intersection.

Officers said they hope increasing enforcement in high crash zones will bring the number of accidents down to zero.