Illinois Troopers are Protecting Their “Bits and Pieces”
The Illinois State Police District 7 East Moline Facebook page posted this picture of an Illinois State Trooper with the following caption.
If you are stranded and see one of THESE come up to your car, please understand we like our noses, fingers and toes too so we are protecting our bits and pieces.
I'm going to assume that means at least a couple of times in the past 24 hours or so a State Trooper has walked up to a stranded motorist and freaked them out with the cold weather gear protecting his or her face. So should you run into a police officer decked out to protect him or herself from the cold don't freak out.
I get it too. Last night we were trying to put the KIIK truck in our garage when we locked the keys in it. I was outside for maybe 3 minutes and touched the metal on the truck. My fingers stung for like 30 minutes afterwords because I wasn't wearing gloves. So yeah, I understand why anyone stepping outside today is going to cover as much skin as possible.
As of 11AM CT Illinois State Police has assisted 55 motorists and have 25 broken down vehicles along various interstates in Knox, Henry and Rock Island County. Very few tow and repair trucks are out and operating in this weather as well.
Illinois State Police suggests staying inside until the extreme weather moves out tomorrow. That's good advice and many seem to be following it. I headed into the office about an hour ago and Harrison Street was as quiet as it usually is on a Sunday Morning.