HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Legislation that would make drunk drivers responsible for financially supporting children who are left parentless as a result of a vehicular homicide saw support at the Guam Legislature.
Sen. Will Parkinson’s Bill 84 would make a person convicted of vehicular homicide responsible for supporting the minor children of their victim. Courts would be left to determine the level of financial support to be paid until the surviving children reach the age of 18, or 23, in the case of children who elect to go to college, university, or a vocational or trade school.
Parkinson’s law is apparently modeled after “Bentley’s Law,” legislation that has been pushed in several states by Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other advocates.
The law is named for Missouri resident Cecilia Williams’ grandson, whose parents and brother were killed in a crash in 2021.
Williams appeared virtually during a public hearing for Bill 84 to testify in support of it.
“This bill will help families financially raise children. This is also about accountability. It’s about helping the offender understand the consequences of their actions and helping them to learn never to do it again. A bill like this is, to me, a very personal thing for many, many people who are victims, many families and many children especially. It is going to take care of the children it’s going to help families, clothe them and feed them and you know for children who are in school to get the school supplies and things that they need. This is an issue throughout the world. When we talk about driving under the influence so many lives are taken and this is such a preventable act,” Williams said.
Also appearing virtually was Brian Harris, director of State Government Affairs for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Adoption of Bentley’s law has been remarkable since it was first introduced, said Harris.
“It’s only two years old, four states have already enacted it. Over half the state legislatures in our country in the United States have considered it; we expect 15 more states to consider this proposal next year and the reason why this is so important today is in the United States drunk driving deaths have increased 31% since 2018,” Harris said.
“The battle against drunk driving is far from over. And I would imagine it’s the same in Guam and in the States. Some states like Texas and Arizona in 2021 saw drunk driving deaths at rates that were not seen since the early 1980s. So the problem of drunk driving it’s truly increased and has regressed as well, the progress we have made against it.”
Sen. Roy Quinata said that lawmakers should consider expanding the measure to also include parents who are not killed but may be left unable to support their children after an accident.
“Sometimes individuals are not terminated or expired upon collision sometimes the individual just becomes immobile or it becomes just disabled and unfortunately is no longer able to fend for the family or provide for the table. So I think that’s something that needs to be added. If we were to push forward with this legislation,” Quinata said.
William Parkinson
