Tougher Traffic Laws in Illinois

In an attempt to make driving in Illinois safer, the General Assembly recently amended a number of traffic laws, stiffening penalties for violators, especially teenagers.

Teens will have to be more careful, because one of the new laws allows their parents or guardians to view their driving records online. Parents are also provided with access to the results of blood-alcohol tests. Teens will have to wait longer (nine months, up from three) before receiving a graduated driver's license, and longer still if they get any tickets.

Lawmakers also passed new laws affecting all drivers, with the goal of increasing safety. Reckless drivers who harm children or school-crossing guards face more serious criminal charges, and if the injury they cause is permanent, the punishment becomes even more severe. The penalties for reckless homicide that occurs when a driver kills someone in a school zone or in a posted working zone have also been made more serious, as have the penalties for failing to report a hit-and-run collision involving injury or death.

Finally, convicted drunk drivers will find it more difficult to evade an ignition interlock device that is installed on their cars. It was already unlawful for a driver whose car had an interlock to drive the car without the device or to have someone else blow into it for the driver, but these acts have now been made Class A misdemeanors, and the driver also stands to lose his or her license for up to an additional year.

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