Urbana woman arrested for DUI, other charges
URBANA — An Urbana woman has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and issued several other tickets in connection with two crashes she was involved in within minutes of each other in Urbana.
The first crash involving Nita L. Nichols, 52, of the 400 block of West Vermont Street, happened at 6:19 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of Race and Washington streets.
An Urbana police report said Nichols was southbound on Race when she allegedly ran the stop sign at Washington Street, and hit by a car driven by Robert Smith, 61, of Mahomet. He was not hurt.
The report said Nichols kept going. Minutes later she was driving fast south on Orchard Street when she attempted to turn east on to Delaware Avenue.
She struck the curb on the south side of Delaware and lost control, causing her sport utility vehicle to overturn and slide. She was trapped in the vehicle and had to be cut out.
She was taken to Carle Foundation Hospital, where she was treated and released.
The report said Nichols had a revoked license and no proof of insurance. Court records show Nichols had a previous conviction for DUI in 2007 in Champaign County.
For the Sunday crashes, she was issued tickets for DUI, improper lane usage and running a stop sign. She was ordered to appear in court July 29.
You are so right. Obviously DUI laws are lacking something or this woman would have thought twice about driving drunk again.They get a slap on their hands and out on the road they go...again. Jail time after the FIRST DUI, not after the third or fourth or after they hurt or kill someone!
while i don't disagree with others about finding ways to stop drunk drivers from driving this article does not answer enough questions for me. first, who is the owner of the suv she was driving? was it hers or did she borrow it from someone else? this is important because if it is not hers then someone else made the poor judgement of loaning their car to an unlicensed driver. the lack of insurance isn't so important as the owner's insurance would cover her. but from the article, the issue is made because the owner didn't have insurance either. secondly, if it was hers, how is it she can keep current tags on it? why was that not flagged in the system at renewal time that her license was revoked? anyone notice no ticket for tags not being current? also, why was her licensed revoked? was it totally due to the last dui in 2007 or due to other reasons? she may very well have earned her license back from the previous convictions as it was over 4 years ago.
here is a link on some good info on the subject of dui in Illinois. http://www.illinoisdui.us
sorry, i don't think more laws is the answer. some will jump all over me for this but i do agree it is a problem and must be stopped. speeding is also a problem that must be stopped. it kills and harms innocent people as well. think about that next time you are doing 40 or more in a 35 mph zone. are more laws going to make you stop speeding? every so often you read about the underage people getting caught in the bars around town. will more laws stop them from doing this? obviously not because it keeps happening. the current answer is to just fine them which is really only a revenue maker. it isn't more laws we need. it's better enforcement of the laws we already have in place.
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