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Starting Monday, distracted drivers face harsher penalties in Illinois

Starting Monday, using a phone while driving will count as a moving violation, meaning it will show up on that person’s driving history and fines will take effect.

MADISON, Ill. -- Illinois drivers will face stiffer penalties for driving while using a cell phone starting Monday. It’s part of a new state law.

The difference will be when drivers get fined and receive a mark on their driving record. Until Monday, the first stop by police has counted as a non-moving violation --effectively a warning. There has been no fine and no sign of the stop on your driving record.

Starting July 1, it will count as a moving violation, meaning it will show up on that person’s driving history and fines will take effect.

The first offense will be a $75 fine. They increase by $25 up to $150 for every violation. If a person gets three within a year, that person’s license will be suspended.

"Overall, I think it's a very good law and it needs to happen," said Tyler Manuel, who often drives for work in Illinois.

State data shows there were nearly 8,500 crashes from 2012 to 2016 in Illinois, where a driver used a cell phone.

William Sparrow was nearly another one recently.

"I had to run off the road. I came close to a head-on collision," he said, recalling the drive from just a couple weeks ago.

He said that the driver was on a cell phone.

RELATED: New survey finds that distracted driving is on the rise

"It's an epidemic now," said Dustin Wallace, who lives in Collinsville.

Wallace said he supports the new law and that he always tells his teenage son to keep his phone away while he is behind the wheel.

"He always has a smirk on his face because he's tired of hearing it,” said Wallace. “But I have to remind him every day. It's so easy, your phone goes off and you want to pick it up."

Secretary of State Jesse White’s office issued a release saying if a person sends or reads a text for five seconds while driving 55 miles per hour, that person will have driven the length of a football field without looking at the road.

Manuel said while he likes the law change, he doesn’t know if everyone will follow it.

“I know a lot of people my age. They’re so stuck in their ways when they’re driving,” he said. He thinks it may take a couple of tickets to get it through some people’s heads.

Wallace said he hopes people think about who could be on the road, and the danger it poses when someone isn’t paying attention.

“If it’s that important, pull over,” he said.

The new law includes several exceptions. People parked on the shoulder can use a cell phone. So can people calling in an emergency and people driving commercial cars if they’re looking at a screen (smaller than 10 inches by 10 inches) installed in the vehicle.

The law also does not apply to law enforcement driving an emergency vehicle while on duty.

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