Illinois passes "Julie's Law" to Crackdown on Speeders

 Posted on July 25, 2012 in Personal Injury

An important piece of legislation was passed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn at the Lincoln-Way North High School in Frankfort on July 20^th, 2012. The location had a special significance for the family of Julie Gorczynski as a remembrance for their daughter. Julie was killed in an accident a week after her graduation just last year; she was 17 years old. The law is nicknamed Julie's Law after Gorczynski but is also known as Senate Bill 2888. The main purpose of this law is to enact stricter penalties for drivers who greatly exceed the speed limit. Lukasz Marszalek was the driver who initiated the two car accident in Orland Park by driving at excessive speeds. He was found to be driving nearly 76 mph at the time of the accident, in a 40 mph speed zone. Lukasz's Mazda crashed into the passenger side of Julie's friend's Jeep and the resulting damage took Julie's life. Driving at that high of a speed was seemingly habitual for Lukasz. He had received court supervision for each of his previous speeding tickets and never received harsher penalties for breaking the law. The new law doesn't allow judges to give court supervision for drivers speeding more than 25 mph on city streets and 30 mph on highways. This greatly reduces the previous limitation for probationary court supervision down from 40 mph. The family of the departed worked tirelessly to initiate the changes to this law. They truly believed that a small change to the law prior to Julie's accident could've been the difference in their daughter's life. "Our daughter Julie represents how unsafe everyone's child and loved ones are out on the roads when excessive speeders, who often repeatedly offend and use loopholes in the laws to escape with minimal if any consequences," Pam Gorczynski said at the school during the signing of her daughter's law. There were also three other laws enacted on that same day at Julie's former high school. One, Senate Bill 2488 makes cell phone use illegal in any construction zone. The second, House Bill 5101 forbids the use of cell phones by any commercial driver. Taking pictures with cell phones within 500 feet of an accident has also been outlawed by House Bill 5099. Since laws are constantly being updated, this makes it necessary to have the proper legal representation. If you or a loved one has been in a car or motorcycle accident, then please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in Schaumburg today.