If you’re like most drivers, odds are you’ve spotted the red and blue cherries of a police cruiser in your rearview mirror at one point or another. Hopefully you weren’t going too far above the speed limit, but you can still end up schilling out hundreds of dollars even if you were only going a couple miles faster than the posted limit. Today, we take a closer look at the hidden costs of a speeding ticket, and we get to the bottom of the true cost of a speeding ticket in Illinois.

Speeding Ticket Cost In Illinois

Speeding costs typically vary a little throughout the state. Here’s a rough breakdown of the base fine you can be expected to pay based on your speed:

• 1 to 20 mph over the speed limit – $120 fine.

• 21 to 30 mph over the speed limit – $140 fine.

• 31 mph or more over the speed limit – $160 fine.

You might be thinking, “Well, that’s really not too awful of a fine, and I was in fact speeding, so I’ll just pay the fine and move on.” However, the costs don’t stop there.

If you’ve been ticketed or charged with a crime, one of the first things you’re probably thinking about is whether or not it is in your best interest to hire an attorney. Yes, hiring an attorney will cost you money, but pleading guilty to a charge can cost you a lot more in the long run. Today, we help explain when it is worthwhile to hire an attorney.

Should I Hire A Criminal Defense Lawyer?

Since we are criminal defense lawyers, it is much easier for us to explain situations where it is in your best interest to hire an attorney. If your arrest involves any of these factors, it is likely a wise move to lawyer up.

1. Drugs/Drunk Driving – Although you may not need to serve jail time for some crimes involving drugs or drunk driving, a conviction can seriously impact your ability to get a job, keep a job, get into college or have your rental application approved. Don’t just pay the fine and try to keep the charge from being discovered, because it will show up on background checks.

An Illinois legislator has introduced a proposal that would make wrong-way driving an aggravating factor in determining sentences for DUI offenders.

Wrong way DUIs don’t occur all that frequently in Illinois, but when they do, they can easily be deadly. State data suggests that wrong way impaired drivers have caused more than 50 deaths and more than 300 injuries over the past decade.

Upon hearing about the proposal, the advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving applauded the move, saying “the punishment doesn’t fit the crime for DUIs.”

Although a lot of places in Chicago rang in the St. Patrick’s Day holiday last weekend, there will still be plenty of revelers out and about this weekend. The holiday falls on Friday, which almost always leads to an uptick in arrests for crimes like drunk driving, aggravated assault and disorderly conduct. Knowing this, Naperville police and other departments across the state will be adding extra patrols to crack down on drunk drivers and other lawbreakers.

“Naperville Police will be on patrol this St. Patrick’s Day, so make sure you obey the law,” said Naperville Police Sgt. Derek Zook. “Don’t drink and drive, and don’t let your friends do it, either. Help us make zero fatalities a reality in Illinois.”

St. Patrick’s Day In Illinois

The focus of the extra enforcement will be to look for alcohol- and drug-impaired drivers, but that’s not all police will be keeping a close eye on. Sgt. Zook said they would also be conducting extra seat belt enforcement, especially during the night hours when seat belt rates are the lowest.

DUIs in Illinois come in many different forms, meaning there are a wide range of potential consequences depending on the exact circumstances of your arrest. Some factors that influence your degree of DUI include if there were any aggravating factors, like driving without a license or having children in the car, or if you’ve had previous DUIs on your record. Today, we take a closer look at the degrees of DUI in Illinois, and what you can expect if you are charged with a certain type of DUI.

DUIs In Illinois

Here’s a closer look at the degrees of DUI in Illinois

Class A Misdemeanor – This is the most common type of DUI, and it doesn’t involve any aggravating factors, which means the driver didn’t injure anyone, they had a valid license and they didn’t have an extremely high blood-alcohol content. Potential penalties for a Class A Misdemeanor DUI include: Jail time of up to one year, fines up to $2,500, up to two years probation and potential license revocation.

Just three years after the state raised the speed limit to 70 mph on some highways, Illinois is again considering upping the speed limit.

Senate Bill 2036 seeks to increase the speed on a number of highways throughout Illinois. Here’s a look at the proposed bill.

House Bill 2036 provides that unless some other speed restriction is established under a Chapter in the Code governing rules of the road, the maximum speed limit outside an urban district for any vehicle is 60 miles per hour (rather than 55 miles per hour) on all highways, roads, and streets that do not have 4 or more lanes of traffic and are not interstate highways and 75 miles per hour (rather than 70 miles per hour) on Interstate Route 355, Interstate Route 80, and every interstate west of Interstate Route 355 and south of Interstate Route 80.

A Franklin Park woman gave an interesting excuse as to why she was over the legal limit when she was stopped by police.

According to the statement she gave police, Katherine Muhlenbruc, 25, said the only reason she blew over the legal driving limit was because she was pulled over too quickly for erratic driving. Had she been allowed to continue driving her car, she would have been sober by the time she reached her destination, according to Muhlenbruc.

“Unbelievably, the defendant in this case was so intoxicated that she actually tried to convince the officer that she was driving to sober up,” police Chief Tom Weitzel said. “Numerous avenues are available to those who chose to drink to get home safely, such as Uber and Lyft. Driving around to sober up is not one of them.”

Being arrested for driving under the influence can be a troubling experience. When you’re arrested for the first time, many people are unsure where to turn or what their options are. Today, we’re going to explain what happens when you’re arrested for a first offense DUI, and what you should do after the arrest.

First Time DUI In Illinois

It’s important to understand that you are not alone after a DUI arrest. In fact, roughly 35,000 people are arrested for driving under the influence in Illinois each year, so thousands of people are in the same boat as you. Although these penalties can differ based on how your case plays out and if your attorney gets your charges reduced or dropped, here are the potential penalties for a first offense DUI conviction:

• Loss of driving privileges for at least six months. However, a driver may apply for a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP) after 31 days of license suspension that allows them to drive under certain conditions and with the assistance of a breathalyzer device.

• It’s also worth noting that the suspension doesn’t automatically begin at the time of arrest. You can challenge the suspension by filing a petition to prevent the suspension of your license, but you’ll want to hire an attorney to draft and file this petition to have the best chances of having your petition granted.

• Since a first offense DUI is considered a Class A misdemeanor in the state of Illinois, a person arrested and charged with the crime will face a potential sentence of up to one year in jail and fines up to $2,500.

• Rarely are first offenders sentenced to months or the full year in jail, and oftentimes they don’t face the maximum fine, although there is a mandatory minimum fine of $500. This $500 amount does not include other fees, like court costs, surcharges or the cost of court-ordered rehabilitation programs like alcohol awareness courses.

• Substance abuse counseling is generally ordered, but it is not a mandatory penalty if convicted.

Finally, it’s also worth noting that a conviction for first offense DUI will remain on your record, meaning a subsequent DUI could lead to upgraded charges or harsher sentences imposed by the judge.