Lawmakers in the Tennessee state Senate are attempting to take an even harder stance against drunk drivers. The state Senate recently passed a bill that would require drunk drivers to pay child support if the driver kills a parent.
The Senate passed the bill unanimously.
If a driver is convicted of vehicular homicide, intoxication or aggravated vehicular homicide while driving under the influence and killed a parent in the state, the driver will be required to pay child maintenance until the children turn 18 years old.
The court will decide what the "reasonable and necessary" amount of child maintenance will be. The court will consider the financial needs and resources the child already has, as well as "the standard of living to which the child is accustomed."
The bill is named Ethan’s, Hailey’s, and Bentley’s Law after three children who lost their parents to drunk drivers. Ethan and Hailey's father was killed in 2019 by a woman who was driving intoxicated, and Bentley lost both of his parents and a younger sibling in a DUI accident.
If the bill is passed in Tennessee, it will be the first of its kind passed anywhere in the United States. Thus far, Tennessee's Governor Bill Lee has not commented on the bill.
State Representative Mark Hall noted on Facebook, "I am proud of our leadership, in both the House and the Senate, to get this bill pushed forward to the point that it is heading to our Governor Bill Lee for his signature. Tennesseans care for each other and we will will do everything in our power to hold people accountable who chose to do harm."
