DUI AND OTHER TRAFFIC SAFETY PROPOSALS By SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE H. RYAN

Lowering Illinois' legal standard for driving under the influence (DUI) from .10 to .08 blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) is the top traffic safety initiative I am asking the General Assembly to approve this spring. My DUI legislative package also would increase sanctions on multiple offenders, impose stricter penalties on drunk drivers who endanger child passengers, and crack down on "keggers" for drinkers under age 21.

Taken as a whole, I believe these proposals could be the most effective measures this state has taken against drunk driving in several years.

Additional traffic safety legislation would ban the use of radar detectors in heavy trucks, create the first "drug-free truck stop zones" in the nation, and require nearly all drivers to buckle up child passengers under age 4.

.08 BAC

Fulfilling a campaign pledge, I tried to convince the General Assembly to lower the DUI standard last year. But the proposal was stalled in a House committee by a single vote.

In taking the issue back to the legislature, I believe I have built a wide coalition of support, including activist groups, insurance organizations, law enforcement agencies, the medical community, substance abuse groups and traffic safety experts.

Together, we hope to convince the legislature that support for .08 is broad and deep, encompassing thousands and thousands of people who want to feel safe driving the highways of our state. While we have been debating this issue in Illinois, five other states have adopted the .08 standard — California, Maine, Oregon, Utah and Vermont.

Studies indicate that a driver's chance of being involved in a fatal accident increases sharply when the BAC climbs to .08. Illinois should wait no longer to save lives.

Other DUI initiatives include:

• Making it harder for repeat offenders to receive court supervision, which generally allows them to continue escaping DUI convictions. Under the legislation, judges could grant supervision only once every 10 years, rather than five, as now allowed.

• Seeking a minimum $500 fine plus five days of community service for any drunk driver found to be transporting a child under age 16.

• Asking the General Assembly to close a loophole in the drain shop law that allows young adults to hold "keggers" at their homes and serve alcohol to underage drinkers.

Adults currently are allowed to serve alcoholic beverages in their homes to anyone older than 18. My proposal would bring the dram shop law into compliance with the state's legal drinking age of 21. The proposal would not affect language in the law allowing parents to provide alcohol to their minor children, primarily for religious purposes or special occasions.

May 1992 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 11

Radar Detector Ban

The two truck safety proposals stem from the work of my Safe Trucking Task Force. The task force joined several state and national traffic safety organizations, including the Illinois Trucking Association, in endorsing a radar detector ban.

The only reason to own a radar detector ("fuzzbuster") is to elude police radar. And research shows that truck drivers are far more likely to use detectors than other motorists.

A tractor-trailer hurtling down the highway at 70 miles per hour poses an extreme danger to anyone in a passenger car. In a crash with a tractor-trailer, the occupants of a passenger car are 47 times more likely to die than the truck driver.

I proposed minimum fines of $50 for a first offense and $250 for repeat offenses.

Drug-Free Truck Stop Zones

My other truck safety proposal would impose strict felony penalties on anyone attempting to sell drugs within 1,000 feet of a truck stop or highway rest area. The proposal is backed by the Illinois Truck Stop Owners Association.

The measure would provide penalties ranging from a Class 2 felony with a maximum $100,000 fine to a Class X felony with a maximum $500,000 fine. The amount of the fine would depend on the type of controlled, counterfeit or look-alike substance involved.

A major federal study reported that drugs were the major cause of about 20 percent of fatal truck crashes. This proposal tells drug pushers that the 65 truck stops and 31 rest areas in Illinois are off limits.

Child Restraint Law

I also am asking the legislature to close a loophole in the state's child restraint law by requiring any person transporting a child under age 4 in a passenger car, pickup truck or recreational vehicle to secure the child properly in a restraint system, except in a medical emergency.

Currently, only parents or legal guardians are required to secure children under age 4 in a restraint seat. Others are required to secure child passengers only if the parents provide a seat.

Strengthening DUI enforcement . . . truck safety . . . child endangerment. Each gives us an important tool to continue the campaign against needless highway deaths. There are no greater traffic safety issues being addressed by the General Assembly this spring. •

Page 12 / Illinois Municipal Review / May 1992