As of January 1, Tennessee became the first state in the U.S. to charge drunk drivers who kill parents child support for their victims’ surviving children.
Ethan, Hailey and Bentley’s Law is named after three children whose parents were killed by a drunk driver. Anyone convicted of vehicular homicide or aggravated vehicular homicide will be required to pay child support until the victim’s kids turn the age 18.
Similar bills are being considered in multiple states, like Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. In New York and Missouri, killing people with your bad decisions might be just as painful as Tennessee’s law. The bill is supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving and comes from tenacious Missouri grandmother Cecilia Williams, who is raising two of her grandchildren after her son, his partner and their 4-month-old baby were killed in a drunk driving crash. From Fox 13:
”She ended up taking custody of all of their children,” said Alex Otte, a regional director with Moms Against Drunk Driving (MADD). “She talks a lot about how grandparents, their children are already raised they don’t expect this expense.”
