CHICAGO — A fatal crash that may have occurred while the driver was livestreaming on TikTok, and a severe sentence in a fatal drunken driving crash, highlight continued dangers from impaired and distracted driving as the holidays approach.

In the TikTok case, police are investigating whether a woman was taking a video of herself on the app while driving and striking a man in Zion. Darren Lucas, 59, who worked at Torres Fresh Market, was crossing Sheridan Road after work to catch a bus home Nov. 3 when he was struck and killed, police said. The driver, a 43-year-old woman, stopped and called 911.

A woman under the pseudonym tea_tyme_3 streaming herself live on TikTok the same day suddenly screamed and swore, and said she had hit someone. Police were investigating, and have obtained search warrants to seize the driver’s phone and social media accounts, Lt. Paul Kehrli said.

In an unrelated case, a DuPage County judge sentenced a woman to 21 years in prison for striking and killing a brother and sister in a drunken driving crash near Winfield in June 2023.

Prosecutors said Christine Brocious, 39, of Chicago Ridge, maneuvered her car between two other vehicles stopped at a red light, ran the red light, and T-boned another vehicle, killing Jorgo Cukali, 25, and 30-year-old Nastika Cukali. Brocious’ blood alcohol content measured .2, prosecutors said, more than twice the legal limit.

The victims’ mother, Glentina Cukali, said the sentence was inadequate for the loss her family has suffered. She thanked prosecutors for seeking the maximum allowed sentence of 28 years, but said the law needs to be more strict.

Since their only children were killed, Glentina and her husband Llambi, who immigrated legally to the United States in 1998, returned to Albania.

“After this tragedy, we can’t live anymore in that country,” she said. “It’s a lot of pain from the memory of living 25 years there.”

Llambi Cukali had worked two jobs, in maintenance and traveling the country doing dangerous work painting bridges and towers, so Glentina could stay home with the children. Glentina later worked as a housekeeper at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, and at Walmart and elsewhere.

The children attended Wheaton-Warrenville schools before Nastika attended College of DuPage and became a registered nurse. Jorgo was self-employed and lived with his parents in Wheaton.

The night of the accident, Jorgo was driving his sister home to Glen Ellyn when they were struck. Jorgo survived until the next day, and Nastika lingered several days, before both died of their injuries.

“It’s her right to drink, but not to drink and drive,” Glentina said of the other driver. “Why didn’t she call Uber or her family? She killed my two lovely children, and she enjoyed the next day of her life. She can never bring back my kids.”

Drunken driving opponents welcomed the sentence, one of the strictest on record in DuPage in recent years. Rita Kreslin, executive director of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, said drivers often get a “slap on the wrist” for impaired driving, particularly for distracted driving.

Kreslin, whose 19-year-old son John was killed in a drunken driving crash in 2002, said cannabis use has become more of a problem since Illinois legalized use of the drug in 2020.

Enforcement has been problematic for police. Marijuana blood tests don’t necessarily prove impairment, because signs of use can remain in the body for days or weeks after use.

One federal report in 2022 found that 25% of seriously or fatally injured road users tested positive for THC, the component of marijuana that gets users high. The percentage of fatalities involving cannabis generally has increased with legalization, more than doubling from 2000 to 2018, to 21%.

Kreslin also emphasized that mobile phones have made distracted driving similar to drunken driving in the 1980s, before awareness and increased penalties and law enforcement lowered its frequency.

“It’s egregious and unfortunate that people are losing their lives,” Kreslin said. “It’s a huge issue.”

Illinois law prohibits hand-held use of a phone while driving, including texting, emails, watching a video, using a social media app, which includes streaming live, or attending a video meeting, even while stopped at a red light. State police also warn drivers against personal grooming in a vehicle mirror, eating and drinking, and attending to children while driving.

Approaching the holidays, Illinois State Police and the state Department of Transportation will resume the annual “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” “Drive High. Get a DUI.” and “Click It or Ticket” statewide safety campaigns in mid-December, along with an additional 200 local law enforcement agencies.

“Impairment is impairment — whether caused by alcohol, cannabis, or other drugs — and driving under the influence is both illegal and deadly,” Transportation Department spokeswoman Maria Castaneda told The Chicago Tribune.

The enhanced enforcement period, which lasts until Jan. 5, also targets seat belt violations, speeding, distracted driving and other risky behaviors.

Earlier this year, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoullias launched a “One Road. One Focus” campaign. Including a safety video viewing requirement for student drivers, billboard ads to raise awareness and expanded distracted driving patrols.

If a distracted driving crash causes death or serious injury, the driver can face a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000 and up to three years in prison.

Nationally, nearly 3,300 people were killed and more than 300,000 people were injured in vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2023, the latest figures available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“This ‘intexticated driving’ is the drunk driving of our time and is 100% preventable,” Giannoulias said.

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