DUI Accident and Injury Defense in Illinois

Reviewed by Alan E. Jones, an Illinois DUI defense and criminal defense attorney and Principal at Alan E. Jones, P.C. Last updated October 13, 2026.

Alan E. Jones has defended DUI charges in Lake County courts since 1989, including cases that began with a crash. When someone is hurt, the case stops being only about whether you were impaired. The charge now depends on two more questions: what caused the crash, and how badly the other person was hurt. Those are the first things I look at, because the State has to prove both and the police report settles neither.

A crash with no serious injury usually stays a misdemeanor, and I defend it like any other case in my Illinois DUI defense practice. A crash that causes great bodily harm or a death is a felony from the first court date.

When Does a DUI Crash Become a Felony in Illinois?

A DUI crash becomes a felony in Illinois when it causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or disfigurement to another person, or when it causes a death. Both are forms of aggravated DUI under 625 ILCS 5/11-501. In either case the State must prove that the DUI was a proximate cause of the harm, meaning a cause the law recognizes as having led to it.

Proof of a DUI and proof of an injury are not enough when taken separately. The statute requires a link between them, and its wording is “a proximate cause,” not the only cause, so the question is whether your impairment helped bring about the harm. The statute also separates levels of injury. Great bodily harm, permanent disability, and disfigurement support a felony anywhere. A lesser injury supports a felony in only two situations. One is a crash in a school zone while the 20 mile per hour limit is in effect. The other is an injury to a child under 16 who was riding in your car. Outside those two situations, a DUI crash that causes a lesser injury to an adult is still a Class A misdemeanor under 625 ILCS 5/11-501, sentenced under the ordinary Illinois DUI penalties, unless some other aggravating factor applies.

How a DUI Crash Investigation Unfolds in Lake County

After an injury crash, the police do not need a DUI arrest to ask for a test. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.6 treats any driver involved in a crash with an injury or death as having consented to testing once the driver is ticketed for a traffic violation other than an equipment problem. If you are being treated, hospital staff must draw blood when an officer specifically asks, as long as it will not put you at risk.

In Lake County these crashes are investigated by the Illinois State Police District 2 on Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 41, and by the Sheriff’s Office and local departments elsewhere. The Wisconsin line does not stop the investigation. If you are taken to a hospital across the border, an Illinois officer may follow, issue the ticket there, ask for the test, and then seek a warrant or summons back in Lake County.

Refusing a breath or blood test has a heavier consequence after a crash. If another person was injured or killed, a refusal leads to a statutory summary revocation of your license, where an ordinary refusal leads to a suspension. For this purpose an injury includes a Type A injury on the officer’s crash report, such as severely bleeding wounds, distorted extremities, or an injury that requires carrying the person from the scene. A revocation also stays on your public driving record, which a first offender’s suspension does not.

What Sentences Apply to a DUI Causing Injury or Death?

A DUI that causes great bodily harm is a Class 4 felony, but its prison range is one to 12 years, not the one to three years that usually goes with that class. A DUI that causes a death is a Class 2 felony with a range of three to 14 years for one death and six to 28 years for two or more. After a death, the court can order probation only if it finds extraordinary circumstances.

Three other consequences follow a conviction:

• Any probation for aggravated DUI includes at least 480 hours of community service or 10 days in jail.
• A prison sentence for a death, or for great bodily harm in a crash on or after January 1, 2011, earns no more than 4.5 days of credit a month, so you serve roughly 85% of it.
• A DUI conviction of any kind requires revocation of your license under 625 ILCS 5/6-205. After a DUI that caused a death, 625 ILCS 5/6-208 bars a new application until two years after the revocation or two years after release from prison, whichever comes later.

How Does a DUI Injury Case Move Through the Courts?

Like every felony case in Lake County, a felony DUI cannot go forward on a ticket alone. Under 725 ILCS 5/111-2, the prosecutor must either obtain an indictment from a grand jury or file an information, which is a formal written charge, after a judge finds probable cause at a preliminary hearing. 725 ILCS 5/109-3.1 sets the deadline at 30 days if you are in custody and 60 days from arrest if you have been released.

The license case runs on a different calendar, and the suspension or revocation takes effect on the 46th day after you receive notice. To challenge it, you file a petition to rescind in the circuit court within 90 days under 625 ILCS 5/2-118.1. The court holds the hearing within 30 days, but filing does not postpone the 46th day. If the crash caused a death or great bodily harm, a first offender cannot get a monitoring device permit, so plan on a period with no legal way to drive.

A DUI injury case is a DUI case and a felony case at once, and Alan E. Jones, P.C. handles both in one office. I have practiced in Lake County courts since 1989, and I defend felony charges as part of my Lake County criminal defense practice. I handle each of these cases myself from the first hearing to the last.

What Evidence Decides a DUI Injury Case?

The evidence on causation comes from the crash itself: the police crash report, photographs and measurements of the scene, the event data recorder in each vehicle, the road and weather conditions, and the other driver’s speed and actions. If the other driver ran a light, or the road created the danger, that evidence bears on guilt, since causation is something the State must prove.

The seriousness of the injury is proved with medical records. They show whether the injury amounts to great bodily harm, permanent disability, or disfigurement, or to something less, which outside a school zone or a child passenger case supports only a misdemeanor. The Type A box on a crash report is an officer’s judgment at the scene and does not decide that question.

Hospital blood tests come in under 625 ILCS 5/11-501.4, and only if two conditions are met. The test must have been ordered as part of your treatment, not at the request of the police, and it must have been run by the laboratory the hospital normally uses. The prosecutor has to show both before the result is admitted, and medical privacy laws do not keep it out once those conditions are met. When the blood was drawn, what kind of sample the laboratory measured, and who handled it in between all affect whether the hospital’s number can be compared with the legal limit of 0.08.

Squad and body camera video, 911 recordings, and statements taken at the scene show how you appeared apart from any test. They may also be the only record of what the other driver said before fault was on anyone’s mind.

Where the Defense of a DUI Injury Case Starts

I begin with causation and the injury, because they decide whether the case is a felony at all. I get the full crash report, the scene measurements, and the medical records early. Before the preliminary hearing, I decide whether the crash needs an independent review.

With a hospital blood test, I look at whether it was ordered for treatment or for the police, what the State is relying on to get it admitted, and what kind of sample was actually tested. If either condition is missing, I move to keep the result out.

Attorneys advise and clients decide. In these cases the hard decision is often whether to accept a plea to a lesser charge or risk a felony conviction that carries up to 12 years. I will tell you what I think the evidence supports, even when that is not comfortable to hear. I charge a flat fee for most cases, so you know the cost before you have to make that choice.

What to Do After a DUI Crash Arrest in Lake County

Evidence from a crash disappears quickly, and several of these steps are about keeping it.

• Do not repair or sell your vehicle until a lawyer has looked at it. Its event data recorder may hold speed and braking data from the crash.
• Photograph the scene, the vehicles, and any signals or signs, once it is safe and lawful to go back.
• Write down the names of witnesses and anything the other driver said.
• Get copies of your own medical records from that day, including the emergency room chart.
• Do not contact the injured person or the family about the crash, and follow every condition of your pretrial release.
• Keep the notice of suspension or revocation. The date you received it starts both the 46 days and the 90 days.

Questions About DUI Crashes That Injure Someone

Does It Matter if the Injured Person Was a Passenger in My Car?

An injured passenger counts the same as anyone else. The felony provisions apply when the crash causes great bodily harm or death to another person, and a passenger in your own car is another person. A passenger under 16 is treated more strictly. If a child you were transporting suffers even a lesser injury, the charge is a felony with a mandatory $2,500 fine and 25 days of community service.

Can DUI Charges Be Filed Weeks or Months After a Crash?

Charges can be filed well after the crash. Most felonies may be charged up to three years later and a misdemeanor DUI up to 18 months later under 720 ILCS 5/3-5, and a DUI that caused a death has no time limit at all. A license suspension can also arrive late. When blood is analyzed after the fact, the notice may be mailed once the result is back.

Is Leaving the Scene of an Injury Crash a Separate Charge?

Leaving the scene is a separate felony under 625 ILCS 5/11-401. A driver in a crash that injures or kills someone must stop and remain, and failing to do so is a Class 4 felony. A driver who left then has half an hour to report the crash to the police. Missing that deadline is a Class 2 felony, or a Class 1 felony if someone died. A conviction also requires revocation of the license.

Can a DUI Crash Case End in Court Supervision?

Supervision is possible only when the crash is charged as a misdemeanor. A first DUI with no qualifying injury can still end in supervision under 730 ILCS 5/5-6-1, which avoids a conviction. Once the crash is charged as aggravated DUI, supervision is not available, because the statute does not allow it for any felony.

Related Practice Areas

• After a DUI death, revoked driver’s license reinstatement cannot begin for at least two years, and it runs through a formal Secretary of State hearing.
• Under the rules for second and third DUI offenses, any new DUI after a conviction for causing great bodily harm or death is a Class 3 felony with no probation.
• A restricted permit after a conviction for great bodily harm or death requires a breath alcohol ignition interlock device on every vehicle you drive.

If you have been charged after a crash, the first conversation is with me, and it is free. I am available 24/7 at (847) 336-3900, or you can write through the Alan E. Jones, P.C. contact page. Se habla español. The weeks right after a crash are when the vehicle, the scene, and the video can still be examined, so those are the first things I will ask you about.