New 2011 laws include permission for roadside memorials in wake of Chicago car accidents
The St. Charles Patch reports nearly 200 new state laws went into effect starting January 1st one of which permits Roadside Memorials at the site of fatal accidents.
Our Chicago auto accident attorneys sympathize with families who have lost a loved one in a fatal accident and hope that the new law can preserve memories as well as bring awareness to the risk of fatal accidents in the Chicago area and throughout Illinois.
This new law will allow families to buy and erect a fatal accident memorial at the site of their loved one's accident. It is the hope of state officials that this program will bring awareness to reckless driving by remembering its victims. Previously, only victims killed by drunk drivers were permitted to place a memorial at the spot of the accident.
A spokesman for the Department of Transportation said victims' families currently make their own roadside memorials and as long as they are not distracting they can stay in place. This law will bring uniformity to the memorials and will eliminate the potential risk to friends and families trying to place these memorials themselves.
An article in the Rockford Register Star reported Senator Linda Holmes was the bill's sponsor. She was contacted by a constituent who had lost her 5 year old son. Her husband and son had been in the car when they got a flat tire.
Since there was no shoulder they pulled into the right hand lane and put on the emergency flashers. Though many vehicles went around the disabled car, one sadly did not. The driver was distracted by a fallen cigar and crashed into the disabled vehicle at 55 mph. The impact was so great the rear of the car was caved in 3 feet and the car was propelled 173 feet up the road. The 5 year old was in his safety seat in the rear of the car. He survived the impact but died two hours later at the hospital.
The memorial marker will have the message "Reckless Driving Costs Lives" with the victims name and date of the crash.
Additional laws that went into effect include:
-Brian's Law: Creates teams to investigate deaths of state operated facility residents with mental and/or developmental disabilities.
-Child Protection: Increases fines to drivers who don't secure children in child restraint systems.
-Dangerous Animals-Primates: You are not allowed to possess any primate unless you are a designated facility.
-Intoxicated Vehicle Instructors: You can not be instructing a minor driver who has an instruction permit if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
-Railroad Safety: It is a crime to place any object on railroad tracks making an unsafe railroad condition.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a Chicago car accident, contact VanPopering Law Offices for a free consultation. Attorneys are available for assistance 24 hours a day by calling 1-800-767-4878.
