New drunk driving law could make its way to Texas - KGNS
LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - A new Missouri Law could require convicted drunk drivers to pay child support if they are accused of killing a parent.
Laredo families who have had their lives turned upside down from such incidents spoke out about the possibility of Texas implementing such a law.
Ileana Pedraza is a mother of five children who for seven years still mourns the death of her husband and father of her children.
She says it’s been very difficult seeing her kids go through the grief of losing their father Samuel Pedraza who was killed in a car crash back in August of 2015.
An accident that was caused by drinking and driving.
Ileana continues to remember that fateful day getting the call from Samuel’s boss saying that he was killed in an accident.
Taking on the dual role of mother and father, Ileana says it has been a challenge she’s had to face.
However, a new law called Bentley’s Law from Missouri aimed at helping victims impacted by drunk drivers like Ileana is catching the eye of lawmakers from the Lone Star State.
Cecilia Williams, grandmother of Bentley and Mason, and an advocate for Bentley’s Law says it’s when an offender who kills parent in a drunk driving crash has to pay child restitution or child support to the children that are left behind.
Cecilia lost her son daughter in law and her grandson.
Cecilia proposed the new law back in 2021 to legislators in her home state of Missouri in hopes to bring strict laws to drunk drivers who are on the road.
Williams says, “A drunk driver took everything from us, everything. We did not get the opportunity to see our son in his wedding tux or to see our daughter-in-law in her beautiful wedding gown. We did not get to hear the baby’s first words or see his first steps. All of it has been taken from us.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2019 more than 10,000 Americans died from drunk-driving related crashes.
Cecilia says she has received calls from 23 state legislators including Texas to implement this law in their own states.
However, a local organization says they are ready to step up and do anything in their power to support this bill in Texas.
Elizabeth Villarreal of Laredoans Against Drunk Driving says, “There has been people who are arrested and are never convicted. What they do is that they have to go through a class, do a few donations and that’s it.”
Elizabeth Alonzo Villarreal is the founder of Laredoans against drunk drivers and a mother of a Derek Trevino.
Trevino was killed by a drunk driver in 20-11.
Mothers like Ileana and Elizabeth hope our state representatives review the bill and hopefully pass something similar in Texas.
Information on Bentley’s Law can be found on the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers website.
Copyright 2022 KGNS. All rights reserved.
For more headlines. click here.
source: https://www.kgns.tv/2022/05/06/new-drunk-driving-law-could-make-its-way-texas/
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.