Chicago Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

As you may have heard, three family members were killed by a drunk driver near Morris, Illinois on November 12. Amanda Jahn, 27, and her two children, Ryan, 3, and Kaitlyn, 11 months, were killed when repeat DUI offender, Ann Marie Getz, blew through a stop sign and slammed into the Jahn vehicle. Getz, who was previously convicted of DUI in 2001 and again in 2002, faces up to 28 years imprisonment if she is convicted on aggravated drunk driving charges.

An Associated Press review of state data found that, out of 8.5 million licensed drivers in Illinois, more than 45,000 have one or more DUI convictions. More than 3,800 have two DUIs and more than 2,700 have three. With such alarming statistics, the Illinois legislature has passed more stringent laws that will go into effect on January 1, 2009.

Under the new law, which targets first time offenders, the judicial driving permits (JDPs) formerly available to first time offenders will become extinct. Instead, first time offenders will have the opportunity to request and receive monitoring device driving permits (MDDPs), which will require motorists to have a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID) installed in their vehicles. This device requires drivers to provide a breath sample before the vehicle can be started and at random intervals while driving to ensure that the driver is not intoxicated.

The MDDP provisions are somewhat more liberal than the JDP predecessors. First, every first offender is entitled to receive an MDDP unless his or her driver's license is invalid, or death or great bodily harm resulted from the arrest, or the offender was previously convicted of reckless homicide or aggravated driving under the influence involving death, or the offender is under the age of 18. Second, MDDP holders may drive anywhere, anytime, as long as they drive their authorized vehicle that is equipped with a BAIID.

Harsher provisions are also included in the legislation. MDDP holders are also required to take their BAIID-equipped vehicles to a BAIID installer at least every 30 days during the period of the MDDP for calibration. Lastly, MDDP holders must maintain a journal of events surrounding unsuccessful attempts to start the vehicle, failures to successfully complete a running retest, or any problems with the BAIID. The new law also doubles the terms of drivers' license suspensions. As a result, first-time offenders will experience substantially more inconvience for a longer period and will have to pay a substantial amount more than under the prior law.

Hopefully these new measures will prevent tragedies like the one that befell the Jahn family in November. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) point out that harsher penalties work: since 1980 and up to 2006, nationwide alcohol-related trafic fatalities have diminished by roughly 47%, from over 30,000 to under 16,000 per year. This represents 358,000 lives saved as a result of the enactment of laws imposing stricter penalties against those convicted of DUI during that period.