Child Support For Kids Who Lose Their Parents To DWI? Could Happen

Recently I did an article on how Missourians average over 4 drinks a person on St Patrick's Day.  I certainly am not accusing anyone of being a drunk.  But if one person consumes that many drinks in a night, there is the possibility of driving home drunk or at least impaired, depending on the time frame of the drinks. Any of us who have seen cop shows like Law & Order, or court shows have probably seen a case where drunk drivers are involved and people have been killed.

I can only imagine how horrible it would be if you were a child of parents who were killed by a drunk driver or someone who was killed by someone charged with a DWI.  It is bad enough losing your family, but depending on the age of the child, you would have no way to support yourselves.

Missouri lawmakers are considering a bill requiring someone convicted of DWI that caused a crash killing a parent to pay child support to the victim’s children. It is House Bill 1954, sponsored by Mike Henderson, R-Bonne Terre. You can read about the bill HERE.  The bill was introduced in honor of a 4 month-old Missouri boy named Bentley. He was killed in a crash involving a suspected drunk driver in April 2021, along with his father and his father’s fiancée.

I am reminded of an episode of Law & Order where a man who had consumed over 12 drinks on a flight, drove and killed several people, if I remember correctly.  Some of the victims had kids that lost their parents.  Because the man was intoxicated so badly, he was not held responsible for the murders of all of those people.

I realize that alcoholism is considered a sickness.  Sometimes, however, someone just drives drunk.  If this becomes law, maybe it could scare people into thinking twice about drinking and driving.  The kids of the victims should not have to suffer just the loss of the parent.  They should be taken care of those responsible.

The committee is scheduled to vote on House Bill 1954 next week.