This law has been passed in Tennessee and requires drunk drivers to pay child support if they kill parents in a collision.
The law is named ‘Bentley’s Law’ after a five-year-old whose parents and brother were killed in a collision with a drunk driver. It was created by the grandmother of the child, Cecilia Williams, and aims to make drunk drivers accountable for their bad decisions and actions.
Tennessee is the first state to pass this law but many other states are looking into it as the idea behind making sure the children are at least not struggling financially, especially after the tragic untimely death of their parents.
Back in November CBS shared that Missouri is planning on introducing legislation on Bentley’s Law after the accident in that state caused the death of Bentley’s brother and parents.
The accident happened in April and caused the death of Cordell Williams, fiance Lacey Newton, and four-month-old son Cordell Williams II when their car was rear-ended and forced off the road.
David Thruby, the driver whose blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit was charged with three counts of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) resulting in the death of a person.
The children now live with Cicila and she’s been working around the clock on this legislation since the death of her family members.
The Missouri woman is pushing states to pass a law requiring a drunk driver that kills a parent of young children to pay child support. She named the proposal “Bentley’s Law” after one of the two grandchildren she’s now raising. >>> https://t.co/q8y1cp42t1
— KFVS News (@kfvsnews) March 3, 2022
She shared, ‘They deserve to get that compensation because you’re talking about raising children that their parents are no longer here [sic].’
The law states that once the driver who killed the parents of a child gets out of jail they will have a month before payments need to be made.
If the child turns 18 before the money has been paid in full then they will have to continue payments until the driver has paid fully.
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