HB1900ham001 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Transportation and Motor Vehicles Committee

Filed: 3/13/2007

09500HB1900ham001 LRB095 09739 DRH 33021 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1900

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1900 by replacing the title with the following:

"AN ACT concerning roadside markers."; and

by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Roadside Memorial Act.

Section 5. Purpose of the Roadside Memorial program. The Roadside Memorial program is intended to raise public awareness of impaired driving by emphasizing the dangers while affording families an opportunity to remember the victims of crashes involving impaired drivers.

Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Department" means the Department of Transportation.

"DUI memorial marker" means a marker on a highway in this State commemorating one or more persons who died as a proximate result of a crash caused by a driver under the influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, intoxicating compound or compounds, or any combination thereof.

"Qualified relative" means: an immediate relative of the deceased, by marriage, blood, or adoption, such as his or her spouse, son, daughter, mother, father, sister, or brother; a stepmother, stepfather, stepbrother, or stepsister of the deceased; or a person with whom the deceased was in a domestic partnership or civil union as recognized by a State or local law or ordinance.

"Supporting jurisdiction" means the Department or any municipality, township, or county that establishes a Roadside Memorial program within its jurisdictional area.

Section 15. Participation in the Roadside Memorial program.

(a) A qualified relative of a victim may request a DUI memorial marker of a supporting jurisdiction in a format developed by the supporting jurisdiction. The supporting jurisdiction shall have sole responsibility for determining whether a request for a DUI memorial marker is rejected or accepted.

(b) An application for a DUI memorial marker may be submitted by a qualified relative with regard to any crash that occurred on or after January 1, 2003.

(c) If there is any opposition to the placement of the a DUI memorial marker by any qualified relative of any decedent involved in the crash, the supporting jurisdiction shall deny the request.

(d) The supporting jurisdiction shall deny the request or, if a DUI memorial marker has already been installed, may remove the marker, if the qualified relative has provided false or misleading information in the application.

(e) The qualified relative shall agree not to place or encourage the placement of flowers, pictures, or other items at the crash site.

(f) A DUI memorial marker shall not be erected for a deceased driver involved in a fatal crash who is shown by toxicology reports to have been in violation of State DUI law, unless the next of kin of any other victim or victims killed in the crash consent in writing to the erection of the memorial marker.

Section 20. DUI memorial markers.

(a) A DUI memorial marker shall consist of a white on blue panel bearing the message "Please Don't Drink and Drive". At the request of the qualified relative, a separate panel bearing the words "In Memory of (victim's name)", followed by the date of the crash that was the proximate cause of the loss of the victim's life, shall be mounted below the primary panel.

(b) A DUI memorial marker may memorialize more than one victim who died as a result of the same DUI-related crash. If of one or more additional, unrelated DUI deaths subsequently occur in close proximity to an existing DUI memorial marker, the supporting jurisdiction may use the same marker to memorialize the subsequent death or deaths, by adding the names of the additional persons.

(c) A DUI memorial marker shall be maintained for at least 2 years from the date the last person was memorialized on the marker.

(d) The supporting jurisdiction has the right to install a marker at a location other than the location of the crash or to relocate a marker due to restricted room, property owner complaints, interference with essential traffic control devices, safety concerns, or other restrictions. In such cases, the sponsoring jurisdiction may select an alternate location.

(e) The Department shall secure the consent of any municipality before placing a DUI memorial marker within the corporate limits of the municipality.

(f) A fee in an amount to be determined by the supporting jurisdiction may be charged to the qualified relative. The fee shall not exceed the costs associated with the fabrication, installation, and maintenance of the DUI memorial marker.

Section 25. Rules. The Department shall adopt rules regarding implementation of this Act. These rules shall be consistent with this Act and with federal regulations.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2008.".