Chicago Man Charged in Fatal DUI Crash

 Posted on January 22, 2014 in DUI

Aaron I. Moore was charged with "two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in death; two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of drugs resulting in death; and two counts of leaving the scene of a fatal crash," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Moore, 26, was driving on a Sunday morning in mid-January on the Eisenhower Expressway, when his Durango slammed into the back of Windstar van that had stalled near the First Avenue exit. Both the van’s driver and backseat passenger died on impact, according to the Sun-Times. "Moore and a 25-year-old woman who was in the SUV with him were taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries," reports the Sun-Times.

According to the 2013 Illinois DUI Factbook, aggravated DUI is a felony charge. This comes with mandatory revocation of driving privileges and likely prison time. Any DUI that results in death, such as the one with which Moore is charged, incurs a two-year license suspension that begins from the date that incarceration ends. It’s a conviction, according to the Factbook, that becomes a permanent part of the offender’s driving record. And that’s not the only punishment Moore is facing—the average cost of a DUI conviction in Illinois, including insurance, legal fees, court costs, income loss, rehabilitation, driver’s license reinstatement and breath ignition interlock device hardware, is about $16,580.

According to the Century Council, an organization of distillers which aims to fight drunk driving and underage drinking, "alcohol impaired driving fatalities have declined 35 percent, and among our nation’s under 21 population such fatalities have declined 58 percent" in the past two decades. In 2011, the Council reports, more than 30 percent of all driving fatalities in Illinois involved alcohol-impaired drivers and there were 279 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in the same time period.

If you or someone you know is facing DUI charges in Arlington Heights, the most important thing you can do is seek legal counsel. Don’t go through it alone. Contact Scott F. Anderson today.