Glenview has changed how “distracted driving” violations in the village will be handled despite the concerns of one trustee who said she worries the modification may not help to address what she said is “one of the greatest causes of accidents and injury to people on the streets.”
The Glenview Village Board at its Nov. 21 voted to will allow police tickets in the village issued for distracted driving to be dealt with through the village’s administrative adjudication hearing process as opposed to being handled at the Cook County Circuit Courthouse in Skokie as has been the case in the past.
In a memo to the board of trustees the Village’s legal staff said there have been ongoing concerns among police and the village prosecutor that existing statutes in the Illinois Vehicle Code and the court processes in the Circuit Court of Cook County are not “adequately addressing” the issue of distracted driving.
“Village staff, including police command staff, the village attorney and the village prosecutor, have determined the most effective method of addressing this issue is through enforcement of a local ordinance that can be prosecuted through the village’s administrative adjudication hearing process,” the memo says
The village board’s 6 to 1 vote in favor of the change at its Nov. 21 meeting goes into effect immediately and anyone ticketed for distracted driving in the village will now be permitted to pay the ticket through Glenview’s administrative adjudication hearing process instead of having a hearing at the Cook County Circuit Courthouse in Skokie, Eric G. Patt, the Village’s prosecuting attorney told the board.
He said the $100 fine levied by the village for the offense will be a lot less than the $250 levied by the county and also pointed out that many distracted driving tickets are dismissed by judges at the Skokie courthouse.
“Because the circuit court fees are so high, judges generally in the Skokie courthouse in traffic matters try to give people a pass if they can on certain offenses,” Patt said. “I believe this is one of them and I believe seat belts are another.”
He also said that by bringing the offense in-house the village will be able to keep 100 % of the fine as compared with cents on the dollar it gets from fines levied by the county.
But Trustee Gina Deboni, the lone dissenter in the 6 to 1 vote, said she could not support the change because she worries that it won’t do anything to help address the problem of distracted driving. She said the offense will not be reported to the Illinois Secretary of State, which could ultimately take action to suspend the offending drivers license.
“That’s important to me because I think distractive driving is one of the greatest causes of accidents and injury to people on the streets,” she said. “If it’s not reportable to the Secretary of State then it doesn’t go on an individuals record. When and if it ever does become reportable to the Secretary of State I am fully supporting of this being an administrative process.”
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And resident Gerald Berry, told the board he is “absolutely flabbergasted” by the change and also said the village has not made public any data supporting its assertion that distracted driving in the village is on the rise.
“The potential for abuse, the potential for selective enforcement is incalculable,” he said. “Who are we targeting? Got any data? If you’re not arresting people where’s your data?
This is an unsupported contention. If there is data I’d love to see it before the board considers these things.”
“Furthermore it denies people due process,” he added. “You’re taking away the recourse to the county court system. Importing it into an administrative hearing. There’s no right for a defense as you have in the legal system.”
Patt said he is working with the Northwest Municipal Conference to try to make distracted driving tickets dealt with through the village’s administrative adjudication hearing process reportable to the Secretary of State.
“Our goal would be to make this an offense that would expressly be handled through adjudication but still reportable to the Secretary of State,” he told the board.
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.