• Arrange rides home for your family, friends, co-workers and yourself before any drinking begins.
• Arrange for a designated driver and save yourself the pain and expense of a DUI arrest or worse, a deadly drunk driving tragedy.
• Call a taxi.  Most cities have taxi services, including Chicago.
• Walk home if you’re only a couple miles away from home, but make sure to walk on well-traveled streets and in well-lit areas.
• Cut back on the amount of drinks you plan to bring to the party and provide plenty of food.
• Stay where you are and leave when you are sober.
• Buy your own breathalyzer to be able to test your alcohol consumption before even considering operating a vehicle to make sure you are well under the limit.
• Know your limit.  Don’t go overboard.
• Don’t drink and drive!
• If you see suspicious, dangerous or impaired driving, report drunk drivers by calling 9-1-1!

If you should witness the tell-tale signs of an impaired driver such as:

• Car weaving on the road
• Moving to the right when approached by an oncoming vehicle
• Crossing the centerline
• Cutting the corner/hitting the curb
• Driver slow to start when the signal light turns green
• No headlights
• Improper lane usage
• Driving with dome light on
• Sudden stops
• Tapping of brake lights
• Face close to the windshield
• Driving under the speed limit
• Staying stopped for a long time at a stop sign
• Not maintaining a consistent speed
• Stopping too late for a red light/stop sign

Don’t hesitate… Call 9-1-1 immediately!!!

Odds of being arrested are very high if you decide to drink and drive during Memorial Day Weekend.  Local and state traffic officers will be out in large numbers.  Local police, as well as state troopers, may set up roadblocks and/or increase patrols during this time. As thousands celebrate their accomplishments, be smart and take necessary measures to use a designated sober driver and make sure to call 9-1-1 to report any suspected drunk driver.

1. Maintain your car and lights.
   A broken taillight will cause a police officer (especially at night) to pull you over and that provides an opportunity to assess if you are driving while under the influence.
2. Ensure license plate is visible.
   If your license plate is not visible a policeman might pull you over to find out why and ensure you are the proper owner of the vehicle.
3. Keep license and city stickers up to date.
   When anything is out of date on your car you are almost instantly labeled suspicious.  Once suspicious, a police officer will be looking hard for a reason to ticket or arrest you – a DUI is one of the first considerations.
4. Do not tint your front window.
   A tinted front window catches attention and is not legal.  While you can have tinted front side windows, they must allow more than 35% of light to penetrate. If this is questionable, you are more likely to be pulled over.
5. Wear your seatbelt.
   Not wearing a seatbelt has become an increasing popular reason to pull someone over.  While this isn’t a big offense, it still gives the officer a reason to pull you over.
6. Follow the speed limit.
   Excessive speeding or speeding in a construction zone will make you an obvious target of the police. Again, when pulled over for speeding a police officer looks for a cause as well as administering tickets.
7. Heed caution in hazardous conditions.
   Hazardous conditions put everyone on high alert. Disregarding caution in these sorts of situations makes you a safety hazard and you will be pulled over to determine if DUI is the cause of the unsafe driving.
8. Follow the rules of the road.
   The rules of the road were instituted to create safe driving environments. Disregarding these rules is just cause to be pulled over.  Don’t make yourself a suspect of a DUI because you can’t be bothered to follow the rules of the road.
9. Do not tailgate.
   Tailgating is easy enough to do, especially when you are frustrated with the driver in front of you.  However, tailgating minimizes the ability to leave enough space if the driver in front of you stops abruptly. Tailgating or an accident will create a strong possibility of police involvement where you will be the target of police questions and evaluation.
10. Do not swerve.
    Swerving is not only dangerous; it is a stereotypical sign of drunk driving.  When you decide that it would be fun, thrilling, daring, or new, you are also sending out an open invitation to be stopped and asked to step out of your car to be checked for drunk driving.

Ultimately, it is best to avoid being pulled over at all, which lowers your chance of a DUI.  Take precaution and be the exemplary safe driver that a police officer doesn’t have to look twice at.

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In order to receive the deferred prosecution, it appears from the way the law is written the State’s Attorney’s office has to approve. Requirements for successfully completing the deferred prosecution are:
Not commit any criminal offenses;
Not possess a firearm;
Complete community service or obtain employment; and
Complete your high school degree, get a GED, or attend trade school.
The Court in its discretion may add additional conditions.

In addition to violent crimes, a person is not eligible for deferred prosecution if charged with a DUI. The law is not clear about whether a person who has a prior violent crime in his or her background, but is currently charged with a non violent crime, would be eligible. It does, however, indicate that any juvenile who has previously been adjudicated for a violent crime shall not be eligible.

Author: Dennis Dwyer

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It will also be safer for the rest of us motorists now that these drivers will be licensed, because they will have to pass the driving and written test. They will also now be able to obtain insurance, so if you get into an accident with one of these motorists you or your insurance company will no longer be stuck with the bill.

This law will also greatly impact DUI law, because in Illinois if you receive a DUI and you do not have a driver’s license you will be charged with a Class 4 felony. Normally a person charged with their first DUI would be charged with a misdemeanor. Thus, this new driver’s licensing law will reduce the amount of people becoming convicted felons for their first DUI offense.

Author: Dennis Dwyer

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Author: Dennis Dwyer

Google

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However, it is not as easy as it sounds. In order to get the permit before the revocation period is finished, you have to show the secretary of state that it is an undue burden for you not to drive to work, school, medical appointments or AA meetings. The undue burden standard is very hard to meet. If there is ANY public transportation options, you are not going to be successful in getting the permit.

In my experience, undue burden is easier to meet if your job requires you to go from site to site or client to client, like a sales job. Also, if you work in a rural area with no public transportation options you may have a good shot at getting the RDP. Lastly, if you need to bring heavy tools with you to the job site where it would be unreasonable to take public transportation, you might win.

Author: Dennis Dwyer

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So what circumstances lead a DUI to become a felony DUI? First off, a person’s prior DUI history can lead to a DUI becoming an Aggravated DUI. For example:

1. A person convicted of a 3rd or 4th DUI offense (offense includes cases in which a person was sentenced to supervision and cases where a DUI was reduced to reckless driving) is guilty of a class 2 felony, where he/she could receive a sentence of 3-7 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Probation is also a possible sentence for a 3rd time offender, but not a 4th time offender.
2. A person convicted of a 5th DUI offense is guilty of a class 1 felony, in which he/she could receive from 4-15 years in the penitentiary.
3. A person convicted of a 6th or subsequent DUI offense is guilty of a class X felony, in which the sentencing range is 6-30 years in the penitentiary.

Second, the circumstances at the time of the DUI arrest could lead to the DUI becoming an Aggravated DUI even for 1st and 2nd time offenders. Here are some examples:

1. If a person has a suspended, revoked, or no license or insurance, then he could be facing a class 4 felony, with a sentencing range of 1-3 years;
2. If a person is driving a school bus with children as passengers, they could be looking at a class 4 felony;
3. If a person is involved in an accident and someone suffers great bodily harm, permanent disability or disfigurement, the he could be facing a class 4 felony, with a sentencing range of 1-3 years if a first time offender, 1-12 if a second offender;
4. If a person is driving in a school zone and there is an accident with bodily harm, he could be looking at a class 4 felony;
5. If a person has a prior reckless homicide conviction, he could be looking at a class 4 felony;
6. If a person is involving in an accident and someone dies, he could be looking at a Class 4 felony;
7. If a person is driving with a passenger under the age of 16 and is involved in an accident with bodily harm, he could be looking at a Class 4 felony;
8. Finally, if the person is driving with a passenger under the age of 16 and is a 2nd time offender, he could be looking at a class 4 felony.
Probation is a possible sentence for all of these felonies

As you can see, Illinois can be a very unpleasant state to get a DUI.

Author: Dennis Dwyer

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This is significant because it is very difficult and expensive to get the Secretary of State to return your driving privileges after a hearing. Also, the statute defines personal injury as a type A injury. This means if someone is taken to the hospital after the accident, it is a type A injury. Many people go to the hospital after an accident for precautionary reasons. Often times their injuries are very minor. Yet a person involved in such a minor accident is now subject to a statutory summary revocation rather than a suspension.

Lastly, a person can be found not guilty of the DUI criminal charges and still face a revocation because they refused to comply with chemical testing. That is a very harsh punishment for someone who is found NOT GUILTY of the offense that triggered the revocation.

Author: Dennis Dwyer

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When this happens, while tragic, most of the time the accused abuser gets his case dismissed. This is because unless there is another witnesses to the abuse, often times the prosecutions entire case rests with the testimony of the victim. However, a judge in Will county instead decided to hold the victim in contempt of court for refusing to come to court and testify against the defendant concerning the abuse. The judge set the victim’s bond at $100,000, which was higher than the defendant’s bond. She was taken into custody and is still locked up today.

We have gotten to the point where we are locking victims up in jail. Aren’t our jails full enough?Aren’t there better ways to get the victims of domestic violence to cooperate with the prosecution other than locking them up in jail? For many of these victims, the abuser is the only source of money for them and their children to live on. We should be providing these victims with the support and resources they need to live their lives without the abuser, not putting them in jail.

Author: Dennis Dwyer