The Oklahoma legislation is known as ‘Bentley’s Law’ and is based on a bill in Missouri
Drunk drivers in Oklahoma could soon find themselves on the hook for child support payments if they kill a parent in a DUI crash.
The Oklahoma House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed House Bill 2130 this week which would allow courts to include child support for minors into the sentence for a DUI accident, KTUL-TV reported.
The measure passed by a vote of 83-11 and will now head to the Republican controlled Oklahoma Senate.
The bill is known as “Bentley’s Law” which first passed in Missouri after a push from a woman named Cecilia Williams whose grandson Bentley lost his parents to a drunk driving crash.
In Maryland, if you kill someone with a gun, even if you’re not criminally charged, you can be opened to a civil suit to pay child support that the deceased was responsible for.
Civil law allows for wrongful death suits, but they’re expensive.
Being killed by a drunk driver is about as wrong as it gets.
The Oklahoma bill saves time and puts the survivors first.