Currently in Illinois, repeat speed offenders are oftentimes sentenced to court supervision and fines instead of license suspensions. According to this Chicago-Tribune article, sometimes the supervisory sentence is handed down improperly and the motivation for these types of alternate sentences is to allow the chronic speeder to avoid a license suspension.
However, as reported in the article, chronic speeders can be a harzard on the road. For example, a horrific car accident occurred in June of last year that resulted the tragic death of a innocent 17-year-old young woman whose car was struck by one driven by a young man who was a chronic speeder and who was currently under “court supervision” for his multiple speeding infractions.
As explained in the article, this accident has spurred Illinois legislators to introduce a proposed law that would reduce the number of people eligible to receive “court supervision” as a sentence for speeding:
The June 2011 crash has sparked new legislation intended to curb who can get court supervision, barring anyone who is caught speeding by more than 25 mph on a nonrural road, or 30 mph on a highway, from getting the special probation.
If passed, it will be the third law in six years to restrict who is allowed to get court supervision…The most popular sentence for traffic offenders, supervisions allow governments to collect fees for traffic violations and drivers to avoid traffic convictions that can lead to increased insurance rates and, in the extreme, license suspensions.
Hopefully this proposed legislation will pass and will be enacted as soon as possible. Doing so will appropriately penalize chronic speeders and prevent them from causing car accidents on Illinois roadways. The only way to protect Illinois residents and make the roads safer for everyone is to suspend the licenses of chronic speeders. It’s the right thing to do. The safety of our roadways should always be the paramount concern, not the protection of the licenses of people who choose to drive without concern for the safety of others on the road.
The Ankin Law (www.ankinlaw.com) handles workers’ compensation and personal injury cases. You can reach the firm by calling (312) 600-0000.