CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Illinois officials and activists said they have hope that new laws will use technology — as well as enforcement — to bring down drunk driving deaths.
Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said part of the federal infrastructure bill will help this state beef up its efforts to stop drunk and impaired driving. And it will also require automakers to make standard safety technology available now only in luxury cars.
Sheila Lockwood, whose son Austin was killed riding in a car with a drunk driver, appeared at a news conference with Kelly, and said the laws give her hope, but not comfort.
Federal safety officials have three years to come up with new technology standards.
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky sponsored the new law that — over the next five years or so — will require automakers to install as standard safety equipment that can detect drunk or impaired driving like lane-keeping assist, collision avoidance and eye movement sensors.
A drunk driving crash cost Alex Otte, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, one of her legs. Otte applauded the law but said she’s frustrated that in the pandemic year of 2020, the numbers showed fewer people were driving, but drunk driving deaths rose.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio live here.
Related
