Any person operating or having physical control of a motorboat in Illinois who has been involved in a personal injury or fatal boating accident shall now be presumed to have consented to a blood, breath, and urine test for the purposes of determining the content of alcohol or other drugs in the person's blood if arrested for a violation of the Boat Registration and Safety Act or similar provisions of local laws. 625 ILCS 45/5-16c new.

Drivers with out-of-state licenses revoked or suspended for driving while intoxicated, hit and run, reckless homicide, or various other statutory suspensions are now subject to Illinois' provisions for seizure and forfeiture.

The Illinois Vehicle Code has been amended to increase the fine for anyone who is found guilty of or pleads guilty to driving under the influence. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.01.

An appellate court erred when it reversed the conviction of a man convicted at trial of driving under the influence (DUI) even though there was no evidence of a casual link between impairment caused by a trace amount of methamphetamine and a car accident that killed two people. (See LawPulse in the June IBJ for more about Martin.)

The Illinois Vehicle Code has been amended to modify the Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP) issuance procedure for first offenders arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicating compounds.

State lawmakers recently expanded offenses for which police may seize a vehicle. Vehicles, vessels, and aircrafts operated in Illinois are subject to seizure if the owner knows and consents to the use and that use violates certain laws. (720 ILCS 5/36-1).

On September 23, 2010, the Supreme Court of Illinois held that the Circuit Court of Champaign County's finding of probable cause at the hearing on plaintiff's petition to rescind his statutory summary suspension, pursuant to 625 ILCS 5/2-118.1, did not bar the issue of probable cause from re-litigation in a civil suit for malicious prosecution.

On August 18, 2010, the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, overturned a grant of summary judgment by the Circuit Court of Cook County, finding that the Dramshop Act does not preempt claims based on legal theories independent from the defendant's provision of alcohol.

Supervisors of minors driving with instruction permits are now subject to stricter penalties if they use alcohol or drugs while accompanying or instructing the minors. (625 ILCS 5/11-507)  

On April 16, 2010, the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, reversed a conviction for driving under the influence (DUI) by the Lee County Circuit Court holding that evidence was insufficient to establish that defendant had cannabis in his breath, blood or urine when he was driving.

On March 27, 2009, the Illinois Appellate Court, Third District, reversed the decision of the Circuit Court of Henry County, which granted the defendants' motions to dismiss, holding that two subsections of the DUI statute enacted by PA 94-329 were not embodied in the DUI law, 625 ILCS 5/11-501 (2006), at the time the offenses were alleged to have been committed.