License suspension or speed control? Lawmakers explore alternative for reckless drivers

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois drivers who have their license suspended for speeding or reckless driving violations could have an alternative under legislation being considered in the Statehouse.

Rep. Marti Deuter, D-Elmhurst, is pushing a bill that would allow drivers to have a speed control device installed in their car rather than having their license suspended.

“Speeding is a chronic problem on our streets and is a threat to public safety,” Deuter told a House committee last month. “Speeding is a factor in nearly half of all deadly crashes. Risk of fatality increases as speed increases.”

Under House Bill 4948, drivers who have their license suspended following two infractions within 12 months for either reckless driving or speeding 26 mph or more over the speed limit would qualify to apply for a permit with the secretary of state’s office to join the program. If approved, they’d have to pay a $30 monthly fee to have the device installed in their car. Drivers would be required to use the device for one year after their first suspension, two years after their second suspension and three years after three or more suspensions.

Participants would still be subject to some prohibitions, however, such as driving a commercial vehicle or school bus.

“We know that the primary penalty for extreme or repeat speeders, which is license suspension or revocation, doesn’t work,” Deuter said. “Data indicates that about 75% of the people whose licenses are suspended continue to drive.”

The bill was approved unanimously by the committee but is still being negotiated before getting a full vote in the chamber.

How the device works

The device is programed to know the road’s speed limit and prevents the vehicle from driving any faster than it, no matter how hard the driver presses the gas pedal. It’s similar to ignition interlock devices that people convicted of drunk driving must blow in to start their car. Drivers that shut the devices off or tamper with them could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor.

Mike Mahana, vice president of LifeSafer, a company that provides interlock and speed control devices, said the program allows people to continue their daily routines. He said the devices also come with an override button that can allow drivers to temporarily go faster if needed.

“It is configurable to let them go for a certain period of seconds over the speed limit,” Mahana told Capitol News Illinois. “We control that by how many miles per hour they go over the speed limit and for how long they can use it for. It’s meant for people that need to pass a vehicle, maybe go up a hill, passing a truck.”

Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, was among the lawmakers who participated in LifeSafer’s demonstration of the technology outside the Statehouse on Wednesday.

“It feels very natural and it also feels really safe,” Guzzardi told Capitol News Illinois. “You as a driver, you don’t notice it after a couple of minutes. You’re driving normally.”

Guzzardi said that once he hit the 30 mph speed limit on Springfield’s streets, he didn’t notice any difference in how the car handled.

“I think this really reinforced for me that this technology works and it’s safe and it’s easy,” he said. “If we can make drivers safer on the road and help them avoid collateral consequences involving the criminal justice system, I think that’s a win.”

Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C., are the only jurisdictions that have the program, according to the National Conference of State Legislators.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.