Eighty-one Illinois teen drivers and passengers died in car crashes in 2023, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Tragedies like these instantly change the lives of families and friends. For one mother — it led her to push for change.

Chasity Dorathy, of Tampico in northwestern Illinois, lost her 16-year-old son DJ in a car crash accident last March. He was a passenger in a car with three other teens when one of the teens crossed a stop sign and collided with a semi-truck. The driver survived, but DJ and two other teens died soon after.

Dorathy said she spent the following months grieving but one day decided to make a change.

“Worst time of my life, worst time any parent can ever imagine,” Dorathy said. “Went through a lot, going through the grief and the heartache and trying to get through that, but after months of it, I was like, there has to be something I can do. I don't want any other family to feel this pain and have to go through this. So, I started, the only way I could.”

A petition on Change.org led her to talk to her local lawmakers and push a bill to prevent future tragedies. The bill aims to restrict drivers under 18 from driving anyone under 20 unless they are siblings or the driver’s child. If caught, a driver could face a six-month license suspension.

The current law is a driver on a graduated license can have only one passenger under 20. If violated, a driver could face a two-month suspension.

Dorathy said that is short and rarely enforced.

“To me, that's not enough,” Dorathy said. “That's not enough to bring attention awareness to this, so that's why I'm pushing six months because then at least at six months, maybe they will take it more seriously. ”

Dorathy also said there needs to be more education about the dangers of filling cars with other teenage passengers.

Republican state Sen. Li Arellano from Dixon remembers being a teen driver. He said he got in a few minor accidents like most teens. This isn’t uncommon — teens are 3 times more likely to get in a crash than other age groups, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

Decades later, without an accident, Arellano said he is pushing the bill because it is important to protect young drivers from preventable accidents.

“You're not supposed to have a whole bunch of fellow minors in your vehicle,” Arellano said. “And the reason for that... is we don't want distracted driving. We don't want groups of young people to egg each other on into behavior that they maybe wouldn't do if they were by themselves or with one other person or with their family.”

Arellano said he has talked to the Illinois Secretary of State’s staff about the bill.

“The Secretary of State might be well aware of some of these challenges and know the history of them over the past 10, 20, 30 years,” Arellano said. “And they might have their own pieces of legislation or amendments that they have to recommend. So that'll be the next step in the process. And then from there, you go to some of the other stakeholders.”

Arellano also said it seems like the Secretary of State’s office was “intentionally neutral” on the bill.

There are other supporters in the legislature. Republican state Representative Ryan Spain of Peoria pushed the bill due to Dorathy's advocacy.

“This came from a constituent of mine who suffered a terrible tragedy and lost a child due to an accident,” Spain said. “And it really came with an idea that maybe we can make a difference in the lives of young people, of young drivers who are at such an impressionable, impressionable age, as they begin their experience driving.”

Spain said the bill asks for something the Democratic majority has been hesitant to adopt: Tougher penalties — but he said it can at least be a discussion starter.

“For many years now in the General Assembly, there's been a resistance to penalty enhancements, and this is a penalty enhancement,” Spain said. “But there is also always an interest on both sides of the aisle of stepping forward to prevent future tragedies, and so there can be a very earnest discussion among legislators on both sides of the aisle.”

Banning who can ride in a car with a teen driver could be difficult to enforce. How would police know if a passenger is a family member — and how would they know if the driver is too young just to have friends in the car with them? Dorathy recommended having teen drivers put stickers on their car to identify their age.

Dorathy said regardless of whether it passes, she's committed to educating the public about teen driving safety.

“But I think that there needs to be a change especially since three teenagers were lost,” Dorathy said. “We need to come up with something better than what we have now. And so that's what I'm fighting for. And I'm not stopping. I'm not going to leave.”

The bill is up for debate soon on the Illinois House floor. The Senate version is stalled in committee.