Offender expected to make payments until child is 18 or graduates high school
A new law in Texas requires convicted drunk drivers to pay child support if they kill a child’s parent or guardian, according to House Bill 393.
The video above is about the National Transportation Safety Board wanting new vehicles to be designed to detect and stop drunk drivers.
The law, which went into effect Friday, says those convicted of intoxication manslaughter must pay restitution. The offender will be expected to make those payments until the child is 18 or until the child graduates from high school, “whichever is later,” the legislation says.
Intoxication manslaughter is defined by state law as a person operating “a motor vehicle in a public place, operates an aircraft, a watercraft, or an amusement ride, or assembles a mobile amusement ride; and is intoxicated and by reason of that intoxication causes the death of another by accident or mistake.”
If someone is unable to pay the restitution because they’re incarcerated, they’re expected to make payments no “later than the first anniversary of the date,” of their release, the law says.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill in June, according to Texas’ bill tracking website.
In July, Abbott said he was proud to back the legislation.
“I was proud to sign HB 393 into law this year to require offenders to pay child support for the children of their victims,” Abbott said.
Tennessee bill requires drunk drivers to pay child support to children of victims
In Tennessee, a bill that requires drunk drivers to pay child support for their victims’ children is on the way to the governor’s desk.
Known as “Ethan, Hailey and Bentley’s Law,” courts can determine the amount of child support on a case-by-case basis, depending on the circumstances surrounding the child’s living guardians.
The bill requires anyone convicted of vehicular homicide due to intoxication, or aggravated vehicular homicide, when the victim is the parent of a minor child, to pay restitution for each child until they are 18 and have graduated high school.
The law was named after two cases involving Tennessee children whose parents were killed by drunk drivers.
If a defendant is unable to pay while incarcerated, they will have one year after their release to begin payment.
