Driving under the influence (DUI) which is also referred to as driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating a vehicle under the influence (OVI), is the offence of driving, operating, or being in control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs (be it recreational/pleasure drugs or drugs that are medically prescribed by a physician) to a level that renders the driver or operator incapable of operating the motor vehicle safely.
Drunk driving has been one of the leading causes of road accidents/ deaths around the world and this has made every country of the world criminalize it with no exception for the offender; it is still an offence even if the drugs you are intoxicated on while driving was medically prescribed to you by a professional physician.
In 2019, Nicholas Gallinger, a 38-year-old Tennessee police officer was hit and killed by one Janet Hinds, who was driving while intoxicated. The offender was sentenced to 11 years jail term for fatal hit and run and for the murder of Nicholas Galinger but the boggling question subsequently was “what then becomes of Ethan, Haile, and Bentley Gallinger, the children and dependants of Nicholas Gallinger who just lost their father and source of survival to a drunk driver?”.
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This case spanned off an argument that sentencing an offender who killed a person while driving drunk to prison is not enough to remedy the situation; what then happens to the dependents of the deceased, how will they cope and how will they survive without the deceased especially if the dependents are still minors.
This argument made the state of Tennessee to pass a law in 2022 which provides that drunk drivers pay child support to the children they’ve deprived of their parents. By the provision of this law, drunk drivers will have to pay child support if they kill a parent due to intoxication or aggravated vehicular homicide. They are to pay for the welfare of the dependents of the deceased until they turn 18 years old.
Tennessee is the first jurisdiction to pull through with a law of this nature and hoping that other jurisdictions will follow through.
Penalties that you may face if you are convicted of driving under the Influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI) may include jail term, monetary fines, mandatory alcohol assessment and treatment, mandatory rehabilitation, license suspension/ revocation, community service, probation etc. It does not matter if you are a minor or a first-time offender, you will never escape getting punished by the government if you are caught driving drunk.