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State Rep. Roger Goodman believes it's only right for people convicted of vehicular homicide to pay for the children they left parent-less when they chose to get behind the wheel while drunk or high. (AP Photo/File)

Drunk drivers could be required to pay child support

BY Chris Sullivan  on February 7, 2013 @ 5:24 am (Updated: 7:07 am - 2/7/13 )

Drunk drivers who kill behind the wheel could be forced to support the children of their victims under a bill being considered in the legislature.

State Rep. Roger Goodman believes it's only right for people convicted of vehicular homicide to pay for the children they left parent-less when they chose to get behind the wheel while drunk or high.

His bill would give judge's the ability to require restitution as part of the sentencing. "I just think it's in the interest of justice to have that offender pay child support for those kids," he said.

The amount would be based on a defendant's ability to pay, and the payment would end when kids reach 18.

This bill made it out of the state House last year but did not clear the Senate.

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
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Comments (4)


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  • froggy wrote...
    This is a good idea.
    February 7, 2013 6:15 am
    But they should take out the "ability to pay" provision and just make it "must pay".
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  • CH wrote...
    2nd amendment
    February 7, 2013 7:10 am
    we can drive our assault cars and trucks.
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  • Burn_Notice wrote...
    This is not a new idea
    February 7, 2013 7:56 am
    Restitution has been around for a long time and it is employed regularly in cases of shop lifting etc. I am curious if the bill is limited to just vehicular homicide. If so, why? Shouldn't anyone convicted of any crime make paying back the victims part of their sentence? Oh wait I remember, because the State fines the heck out of them so even if they pay their fines there is no way they would start paying to the aggrieved parties.
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  • HockeyMom wrote...
    Kids are not the only victims
    February 7, 2013 9:51 am
    Why not have them pay a monthly stipend to the spouse/partner that was either supporting or co-supporting their household? Oh, yeah....like the previous poster noted, we already have that when restitution is ordered in crimes. Problem is making people pay it. Heck, as far as that goes, it's sometimes hard to get people to pay their child support. Although, I think the idea comes from the right place, I don't see where this is going to go through. There are too many victims that would want compensation - not just children.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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