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Posted On: January 4, 2010

Illinois cracks down on uninsured drivers

A new law amends Section 625 ILCS 5/3-707 of the Illinois Vehicle Code making it a misdemeanor to injure someone while driving without insurance. Violators could spend up to a year in jail or face a $2,500 fine.

The amendment reads as follows:

625 ILCS 5/3-707
(a-5) A person commits the offense of operation of uninsured motor vehicle causing bodily harm when the person:
(1) operates a motor vehicle in violation of Section 7-601 of this Code; and
(2) causes, as a proximate result of the person's operation of the motor vehicle, bodily harm to another person.
(a-6) Uninsured operation of a motor vehicle under subsection (a-5) is a Class A misdemeanor.

This law will have especially serious consequences for undocumented aliens who drive without license or liability insurance. The law will also have serious consequences even for aliens who are lawfully in the United States in a valid nonimmigrant status since the commission of any crime is considered a violation of nonimmigrant status under the immigration law, which will make an alien removable from the United States for violation of status.

Posted by Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. | | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Accidents , Immigration , Motorcycle Accidents

Posted On: January 3, 2010

Texting and driving is now against the law in Illinois

Records compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that driver distraction is a significant factor in traffic crashes resulting in injury or death. The use of a cell phone while driving can increase the chances of becoming involved in a crash by 400 percent.

On January 1, 2010, two new traffic laws take effect in Illinois.

The first traffic law restricts drivers under the age of 19 (with an instruction permit or graduated license) from using a wireless or cellular phone while driving. This law law also prohibits the use of wireless telephones for all drivers, regardless of age, while operating a vehicle in a school zone or construction zone.

The law provides an exception to exclude a GPS or navigation system, and creates an exception to the electronic message prohibition for a driver using an electronic communication device while parked on the shoulder of a roadway, and creates an exception for a driver using an electronic communication device when the vehicle is stopped due to normal traffic being obstructed and the driver has the motor vehicle transmission in neutral or park.

The second traffic law prohibits text messaging, composing, reading or sending electronic messages, or accessing internet sites while driving a motor vehicle in a school speed zone or a construction or maintenance speed zone, except for a person engaged in a highway construction or maintenance project for which a construction or maintenance speed zone has been established when the person is using a wireless telephone in furtherance of that project.

The law adds exceptions for specified emergency purposes and law enforcement officers or emergency vehicle operators when performing their official duties. It also adds an exception to wireless telephone in school and construction zones prohibition for a person using a wireless telephone in voice-activated mode.

Posted by Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. | | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Accidents , Motorcycle Accidents , Truck accidents

Posted On: January 2, 2010

Preventing injuries is everyone's responsibility

In the United States during 2008, 968 children ages 14 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes, and approximately 168,000 were injured. A CDC study published in the May 3, 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that 64% of the children who died in car crashes were riding in the vehicle with a drinking driver. The drinking driver was typically old enough to be the age of the child's parent or caregiver. The study also found that as the blood alcohol concentration of the child's driver increased, child restraint use decreased. The statistics is grim:

  • Fifteen percent of occupant deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years involved a drinking driver.
  • More than two-thirds of fatally injured children were killed while riding with a drinking driver.
  • Restraint use among young children often depends upon the driver’s seat belt use. Almost 40% of children riding with unbelted drivers were themselves unrestrained.
  • Child restraint systems are often used incorrectly. One study found that 72% of nearly 3,500 observed car and booster seats were misused in a way that could be expected to increase a child’s risk of injury during a crash.

These are preventable deaths. People who decide to sit behind the wheel impaired must remember that they are responsible not only for their own safety, but for the safety of others.

Posted by Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. | | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Accidents

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Peter Zneimer


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