State Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel is pushing legislation that would create special license plates alerting police officers that a driver or passenger has autism.

The measure, Senate Bill 3904, passed the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

The bill would allow the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office to issue special license plates designating that someone in the vehicle has autism. Applicants would need to provide a certificate from a licensed physician confirming the diagnosis.

“Traffic stops are stressful for everyone, but even more so for people who have autism,” Loughran Cappel, D-Shorewood, said in a news release. “Autism can affect people’s social cues and command responses, causing anxiety when encountering police officers.”

The measure aims to reduce dangerous misunderstandings during traffic stops. People with autism may communicate or respond to commands in ways that police officers don’t expect, potentially escalating routine stops into tense situations.

“Police officers have training for dealing with various kinds of traffic stops, but people who have autism sometimes communicate in ways that police officers do not expect,” Loughran Cappel said.

“This measure would help decrease the possibility that a routine traffic stop turns into a dangerous situation when someone with autism gets pulled over, and it would protect both drivers and police officers,” she said.

A comparable program exists in Naperville, where drivers can hand police officers a blue envelope during traffic stops to indicate that someone in the car is on the autism spectrum.

Loughran Cappel’s bill would create a statewide version using license plates.