Published: October 29, 2009 07:59 pm      

DUI Memorial Sign installed in King City

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — The first Illinois DUI Memorial Sign in Jefferson County has been erected in honor of 35-year-old Ronald Hale at the corner of Shawnee Street and Illinois Route 142.

“We just want people to look at it as a reminder not to drive impaired,” Hale’s mother, Jeanne Hale said Thursday afternoon.

Ronald Hale, of Waltonville, died on June 14, 2006, at 3:21 p.m. after the motorcycle he was driving was involved in an accident at the intersection. The alleged driver of the vehicle which hit Hale was Steven Hanner, who was 16 at the time of the accident, and has since been charged as an adult with six counts of aggravated driving under the influence of drugs and possession of more than 2.5 grams of marijuana.

Hanner, of the 1800 block of Franklin Avenue, has not been to trial on the charges. According to court documents, Hanner was allegedly under the influence of six different types of drugs during the crash. Toxicology reports indicate there was allegedly cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDA and ecstasy in his urine at the time of the accident.

No trial date has been set for Hanner at this time.

The DUI Memorial Sign Program, sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation, is to memorialize deceased victims of crashes and to raise public awareness of the consequences of driving while impaired, according to IDOT. The memorial may be placed on state highways and crashes must have happened on or after Jan. 1, 1990. An application is filled out by the family, and IDOT reviews and if the application is approved, the family pays a one-time fee, and the memorial is installed at or near the location of the crash.

Additional information about the program is available online at www.dot.state.il.us/oper/diumemorialprogram.html or by contacting IDOT at 217-785-8534.