Teen gets 5 years in jail fatal drunk driving accident

A Cook County judge sentenced a teenage driver from Mount Prospect to 5 years in prison for the death of a 15 year old Arlington Heights girl as she crossed the road in Prospect Heights in December, 2008.  The teen driver had been drinking alcohol at a party that had been purchased for them by the older brother of a friend.  After the car accident happened, he fled the scene.

When adults are involved in Illinois drunk driving accidents, victims of the accident can seek recovery against the drunk driver directly as well as against the bars or restaurants that caused their intoxication in an Illinois Dram Shop Act claim.

When teens under the age of 18 are involved in drunk driving car accidents, accident victims can seek compensation for their losses under the Drug and Alcohol Impaired Minor Responsibility Act.  The statute imposes liability under anyone who knowingly supplies alcohol to persons under the age of 18.  This would apply to the brother who bought the alcohol for the teen driver.

The statute is supposed to serve as a deterrent for adults against buying booze for teenagers, and to that end, it allows victims to seek punitive damages, something that is not normally allowed in Illinois wrongful death suits.  Of course, the man who bought the beer is not going to serve as a deterrent for teen drinking and driving as much as the young man who is going to prison for 5 years.