Texas has a new law which went into effect on September 1, just in time for the Labor Day weekend. Under House Bill 393, “convicted drunk drivers” are required “to pay child support if they kill a child’s parent or guardian.” If you happen to be unable to work because you’re locked up for the crime, that’s okay. The payments don’t start until you get out. They even give you a year to get a good job.
Texas requires ‘restitution’
The idea Texas came up with, conservatives across America declare, is brilliant. It forces drivers irresponsible enough to climb behind the wheel while intoxicated to assume responsibility for the hole they leave in the lives of children.
Specifically, the ones who’s parents die due to their drunken negligence.
The text of the newly enacted law states that “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.” Elsewhere in Texas statutes they define “intoxication manslaughter” as applicable to a person operating “a motor vehicle in a public place.”
HB 393 went into effect Friday, saying those convicted of intoxication manslaughter are expected to pay restitution to the victims' children until they're 18 or until they graduate high school, "whichever is later." https://t.co/9MUxSqEjk0
— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) September 2, 2023
It also applies to anyone who “operates an aircraft, a watercraft, or an amusement ride.” Even anyone who “assembles a mobile amusement ride,” who “is intoxicated and by reason of that intoxication causes the death of another by accident or mistake,” falls under the law.
Hopefully, the idea will spread across the nation. Texas officials note that 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.” They give you a year to get a job then you’re going to be paying every dime they can shake out of you. It’s only fair.
Every Texan is free to drink themselves blotto all day every day if that’s what they choose to do. At the same time, driving while blind is a no-no. It’s not the hardcore alcoholics this law is aimed at, though. It’s meant to make the casual drinker who “only had two beers officer, I swear,” to think twice about driving home. It’s a whole lot better to catch a ride than kill some kid’s support system. When word gets around, the streets should become at least a little safer.
Signed in June
Conservative Governor Greg Abbott couldn’t wait to sign the bill into law back in June. As he noted in July, Abbott was “proud to sign HB 393 into law this year to require offenders to pay child support for the children of their victims.”
It makes a whole lot of sense and there’s really nothing for any of the advocacy groups to scream about. Also known as Bentley’s law, “it’s about both prevention and accountability” so went through the Texas legislature with bipartisan support.
The founder of Laredoans Against Drunk Driving, Elizabeth Alonzo-Villarreal, expressed her wholehearted support for the new Texas measure. She “tragically lost her son Derek in 2011 after a drunk driver crashed into him while he was working.”
Any time a parent passes is tragic, but a death at the hands of a drunk driver is especially heinous.
I was proud to sign HB 393 into law this year to require offenders to pay child support for the children of their victims.pic.twitter.com/zpNJtRj50h
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 25, 2023
The way she sees it, the new law is a “significant victory.” She’s convinced that “it will provide much-needed support to the families affected by drunk driving incidents and hold offenders accountable for their actions.”
In Webb County, Texas, where she lives, in “the last 10 years, there have been over 70 deaths in our community.” She relates that she also has “a board member who was widowed because of a drunk driver. She has five children that she’s had to raise on her own. That is not fair.”
It’s totally appropriate to make those responsible shell out for their victims for a preventable loss which is entirely their fault.