Illinois making changes to its texting-while-driving laws

On Behalf of Johnston Law Offices P.C   |   Aug 16, 2018   |   Car Accidents ,

Texting while driving is against the law in Illinois. However, many drivers in the state continue to engage in this dangerous driving behavior. Distracted driving, including texting-while-driving, is a significant cause of auto crashes here in Illinois and in the rest of the United States.

Recently, Illinois’ governor signed a new law which will strengthen the penalties for texting while driving in the state.

Currently, a first offense of breaking the state’s texting-while-driving ban is just a nonmoving violation. Such a first offense also will not show up on a person’s driving record. The new law will change this.

It will make all offenses of texting while driving moving violations. So, these offenses will be counted when determining whether a driver has enough violations to trigger a license suspension. Such a suspension can come about when a person has three moving violations within a one-year period.

Also, under the new law, texting-while-driving offenses will go onto driving records.

These changes will not be going into force this year. Rather they will take effect on July 1, 2019.

Do you think these toughened penalties will reduce texting while driving in Illinois? Are there additional changes you would like to see made to the state’s distracted driving laws?

Injuries from distracted driving accidents can have long-lasting ramifications for victims. So, in the wake of being harmed by a distracted driver, individuals may have questions about what legal actions could be taken that could help them protect their future. Skilled personal injury attorneys help such crash victims understand their options.