Lt. Gov. Corinne Woods’ creation of Scott’s Law (House Bill 18O), intended to increase penalties for motorists who injure or kill a firefighter, police officer or other emergency personnel, is well-intentioned but very misdirected. Lt. Scott Gillen, for whom the bill was named, was killed by an alleged drunk driver. These highway terrorists will not be deterred by a tougher sentence for killing a firefighter. Their intoxicated brains are not thinking clearly enough to protect their own safety, much less worry about the consequences should they injure someone else.
It is not that I am not sympathetic with Lt. Gillen’s family. Having lost my sister to a drunk driver last year, reading his story was particularly painful. Nor do I debate the very real need for serious punishment. The fact that my sister’s killer was sentenced to 85 years in prison (in Wisconsin) is enormously important for my family.
As an emergency physician, I work daily with firefighters, paramedics and police, and they are true heroes. We need to protect them but in far more serious ways than Scott’s Law.
If the lieutenant governor wants to improve road safety, she should enact these steps:
– Launch a statewide campaign to educate the public about the need for complete sobriety to drive (zero alcohol).
– Increase surveillance and the arrest of intoxicated drivers.
– Enact legislation that confiscates a driver’s vehicle and requires house arrest for the first drunk-driving offense.
Hundreds of lives are lost each year in Illinois in alcohol-related collisions. Each family’s tragedy is just as heartbreaking as the Gillens’. These deaths are completely avoidable, and a willingness by the citizens and our elected officials to enact meaningful legislation aimed at prevention is key.
