Eye On Illinois: Lawmakers considering towing rules, senior driving, O’Hare parking and vintage plates

It’s hard to think of a way state and local government more directly affects everyday life than all the rules about cars.

While there are Illinoisans unable to drive or wholly reliant on public transportation, the vast majority of adults are regular drivers. That means obeying all the rules of the road plus keeping up on insurance and registration – which includes geography-based emissions testing – and even just knowing where to legally park. As such, here’s a quick roundup of proposed legislation that could directly affect you and your driving.

Senate Bill 2040 would expand the Illinois Commerce Commission’s power to regulate vehicle towing companies, an industry that has earned a bad reputation for things like racing to the scene of an accident and claiming to be sent by an insurance company or simply towing a car that wasn’t parked illegally and forcing folks to jump through expensive hoops to reclaim their rides.

Among the changes are increased rights to impound vehicles with unpaid fines, along with allowing revocation of license plates, and a change that would link a towing license to a personal name instead of a corporate identity so shady operators can’t avoid penalties by doing business as a fresh entity.

In January I addressed House Bill 1226, which would raise the age for mandatory annual road tests to 87. Readers tipped me to this concern back in 2022. The House Transportation: Vehicles & Safety Committee advanced the proposal on an 11-0 vote Feb. 19.

Another proposal is House Bill 1502, addressing language from the O’Hare Driver Safety Act passed in the last General Assembly. State Rep. Brad Stephens, R-Rosemont, championed that legislation as a way to increase driver safety on the major roads approaching the airport by making it illegal to idle a car on the shoulder of any highway within a half mile of the airport’s eastern entrance or at the intersection of Interstates 90 and 294. Stephens’ new bill clarifies agency rights and responsibilities, which should remove impediments to installing automated cameras to issue $100 citations to violators.

One of my favorite proposals of the current session, in any category, is House Bill 3391, from state Rep. Jennifer Sanalitro, R-Hanover Park. Her plan calls for allowing the Secretary of State to issue license plates with the same design as the style used from 1983 to 2001. The extra cost would be $40 for the first year and $27 for renewals.

I never felt it necessary to abandon that design two decades ago and would appreciate a little clarity about what state funds will benefit from the extra revenue, but it all seems a fair price to pay for the pleasure of reveling in nostalgia on a daily basis.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.