Should it Be Texas Law That Drunk Drivers Pay Child Support if They Kill Parents?
A new law has passed unanimously in Tennessee that will require drunk drivers, who kill parents, to pay child support to their victim's surviving children. Now it's time for Texas to take a look into this new law.
It's called Bentley's Law and the idea for it came from Cecilia Williams, who named the legislation after her 5-year-old grandson.
Under HB 1834, "an impaired driver convicted of vehicular homicide will be ordered to pay restitution in the form of child maintenance to each of the victim's children until the kids are 18 years old and graduate high school."
The bill which passed unanimously on Monday in Tennessee could soon be looked at as a possible avenue to hold drunk drivers accountable in even more states. And it makes sense, there are always more victims of drunk drivers than those left dead on the side of the road. These victims have families, and when there are children left without a parent no amount of money can fix it, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't ensure that they are financially taken care of.
@tiffneybillions Drink 🍺 Drive…Pay Child Support #bentleyslaw #alcoholicsbelike #childsupportproblems #childsupportcourt #themkidsaintmine #billionsvision #madd ♬ Do We Have A Problem? - Nicki Minaj & Lil Baby
The people who put this legislation together even accounted for the convicted to spend their due time in jail. According to the bill, "If the defendant is incarcerated and can't pay, the defendant is given one year after their release to begin payments. If the child reaches 18 but hasn't been paid in full, payments will continue until the child is entirely paid."
So what do you think, Texas? Is this something that you'd like to see here in the Lone Star State?