Parents could be charged if kids drink in car
Parents who let their children drink alcohol in cars, boats and RVs could be charged with a crime under a new law approved by Gov. Pat Quinn Friday.
It was already illegal for parents to host drinking parties in their homes in Illinois. That law followed a 2006 drinking party in Deerfield where two underage children drove home while drunk, crashed into a tree and died.
The party's hosts were subject to a lawsuit that went all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Friday's new law, sponsored by Deerfield Democratic state Sen. Julie Morrison, expands parents' responsibility beyond the land they own to the vehicles they own.
"We don't allow minors to drink for a reason," Morrison said in a statement. "Inexperienced, intoxicated drivers are a recipe for disaster, and teenagers' bodies and minds are still maturing.