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NEW PROPOSAL WOULD IDENTIFY
DRIVERS WHO BLACK OUT
AND CAUSE CRASHES
BY SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE H. RYAN
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Last December, a 31-year-old Palatine driver crashed
into a post office building during a seizure and injured
more than a dozen people. The man also had four
previous collisions involving seizures, but none of the
incidents were reported to the Secretary of State's office.
If our office is not notified of situations like this, we
cannot take the appropriate action to get the driver off
the road. Therefore, I have proposed legislation in the
General Assembly that would require police officers to
report these drivers to the Secretary of State's office,
either in writing or electronically, and we could cancel
their licenses immediately.
The legislation — House Bill 3629 —passed the House
Constitutional Officers Committee recently on a unanimous vote and is being considered by the full House.
Many police officers are not aware of the procedures
to follow if they discover that an accident or other
traffic incident was caused by a loss of consciousness.
HB 3629 requires the Secretary of State's office to consult with the Illinois State Police and local law enforcement agencies to develop any necessary rules and reporting procedures.
This proposal also requires motorists to notify our
office within 10 days after becoming aware of any
medical condition that could impair their driving abilities.
The only medical screening process currently in
place occurs at the time a driver applies for a new or
renewed license. All applicants are asked whether they
have a medical condition that may cause loss of consciousness or impact their ability to operate a vehicle
safely. Yet, a driver is not required to report a condition
that arises after receiving a driver's license.
Physicians, states' attorneys, police officers and
members of the judiciary also can voluntarily report
medically at-risk drivers to our office. When a report is
received, the motorist is required to produce a physician's statement saying he or she is safe to drive.
In borderline cases, the statement is referred to the
licensed physicians on the Secretary of State's Medical
Review Board. The review board can require an updated statement at all subsequent renewals or on a more
frequent basis.
Depending on the board's recommendation and the
circumstances surrounding the loss of consciousness, a
driver either will be allowed to reapply for a license or
be required to remain seizure-free for a designated
period (usually six months) before reapplying for a
license.
Generally, once a driver has been reinstated, follow-up medical statements are required at six-month intervals. If the driver is reported by an authorized individual a second time, the review board usually requires
him or her to submit a follow-up statement every three
months if he or she is approved for driving. A third
report usually results in reinstatement being denied indefinitely.
Requiring that individuals and police officers report
medical conditions to our office would help us identify
more high-risk drivers. But more importantly, it would
give us the opportunity to take steps that could save
lives.
If this bill becomes law, the driver-reporting provisions would become effective immediately, while the
law enforcement provisions would be effective July 1,
1997.
Sponsors of the legislation are state Reps. Dan Rutherford, R-Pontiac, and James B. Durkin, R-Westchester. •
Page 16 / Illinois Municipal Review / April 1996
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