Mt. Vernon Register-News

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August 5, 2010

DUI memorial sign returns to location of fatal accident

By TESA CULLI tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — The first Illinois DUI memorial sign in honor of 35-year-old Ronald Hale is back in its place at the corner of Shawnee Street and Illinois Route 142.

“I’m happy; I’m proud of that,” said Jeanne Hale, Ronald Hale’s mother. “I wish it could have read, ‘Please don’t drive impaired,’ but it says, ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ because that’s what all the signs say.”

Hale died on June 14, 2006, the result of injuries he sustained when an SUV driven by Stephen Hanner pulled out in front of his motorcycle at the intersection. Hanner, who was 16 years old at the time of the accident, was found guilty of aggravated driving under the influence of drugs, driving under the influence of drugs and possession of drugs on March 26. A sentencing hearing has not been held yet.

This is the second time the memorial sign has been placed in Hale’s memory. The sign was originally installed on Oct. 28, 2009, but taken down by IDOT crews three days later, after a complaint was received about the sign by a  member of Hanner’s family. The complaint was that Hanner had not been convicted at the time the sign was first installed. Aaron Weatherholt of IDOT said the state statute which implements the memorial program and the administrative code on the program do not require a conviction of DUI, but IDOT removed the sign because the department wanted “to be responsive, and I didn’t know the details at the time. ... We decided to remove it to maintain a neutral position.”

IDOT approved the sign, and although Jeanne Hale said she was waiting until Hanner was sentenced to ask for the sign to be re-installed, IDOT put it up on Wednesday.

“I’m glad it’s up,” Hale said. “There are a lot of (Ron’s) co-workers that work at (Continental Tire the Americas), and they will be able to see it. I hope people will recognize it and think, ‘I won’t drink or drive impaired.’”

The DUI Memorial Sign Program is sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation and was created to memorialize deceased victims of crashes and raise public awareness of the consequences of driving while impaired, according to information from IDOT. The memorials may be placed on state highways and crashes must have happened on or after Jan. 1, 1990.

An application for the memorial signs is filled out by the family of the deceased, and IDOT reviews the application.

If approved, the family pays a one-time fee for the sign placement, and the memorial is installed at or near the location of the crash. Anyone who would like additional information on the program may contact IDOT at (217) 785-8534.

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