Starting Thursday, having a single drink and getting behind the wheel could potentially have serious repercussions for Illinois residents, as a new law goes into effect where first-time DUI offenders must install a breath monitoring device into their cars.

I am all for tough DUI enforcement against those who feel either invincible or that laws don’t apply to them, as I have seen friends lose family members to drunk drivers, but this law has the potential to be seriously abused.

People who live in the suburbs and enjoy a beer or glass of wine with dinner but don’t have the option of public transportation shouldn’t have to live in fear of being arrested for DUI on their way home. But the Secretary of State’s office has already made it clear you can potentially be convicted of DUI even if you blow under the .08 legal limit.

My hometown of Naperville has been in the top-five municipalities for DUI arrests since records have been kept by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists in 2000. It ranked first in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

But in the age where YouTube and TV shows like “World’s Wildest Police Chases” have become a source of entertainment highlighting hilarious antics during DUI arrests, you’ve never seen any from Naperville featured despite its high number of arrests.

Why? Because Naperville doesn’t employ dashboard cameras in their police cruisers.

Previously, a legal loophole allowed you to refuse to submit to a breath test at the price of an automatic six-month license suspension. Despite the suspension, it usually meant the case would be thrown out in court due to lack of evidence. But earlier this year some Kane county municipalities started a pilot program to obtain search warrants for your blood if you refused a breathalyzer.

If the state of Illinois is taking such extreme measures to collect evidence to bolster prosecutors’ cases in DUI arrests, it’s time they step up to the plate and provide the same to the citizens.

If I am pulled over in Naperville after having only a drink or two but enough to register on a breath test — which will be used as evidence against me in a court of law should the officer arrest me — I want my traffic stop recorded so that a jury of my peers can see my field sobriety tests. I don’t think it’s fair to rely on a police officer’s notes and memory in a case of my word vs. his.

I’m living my life, but making sure I do my part to not become another DUI statistic. I’m not really sure I can say the same about the state of Illinois.