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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

A new law in Texas requires convicted drunk drivers to pay child support if they kill a child’s parent or guardian, according to House Bill 393.

The law, which went into effect Friday, says 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,” the legislation says.

Intoxication manslaughter is defined by state law as a person operating “a motor vehicle in a public place, operates an aircraft, a watercraft, or an amusement ride, or assembles a mobile amusement ride; and is intoxicated and by reason of that intoxication causes the death of another by accident or mistake.”

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[-] wishthane@lemmy.world 72 points 1 year ago

Punishing drunk drivers is well-deserved, but as long as car-dependent infrastructure encourages drunk driving, it is considerably more difficult to actually decrease the rate of it. Taking a taxi is expensive and being a DD is no fun, so people take stupid risks. If you know you can take public transit home, there's no reason to take such a risk at all.

[-] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Could take a Uber/Lyft.

I deal with this issue, the big bus station and my house are divided by a highway. So me and my buddies go out it either has to be very local or I have to take a rideshare for a five minute drive home.

[-] Surreal@programming.dev 13 points 1 year ago

the big bus station and my house are divided by a highway

Why does this have to be a thing? In my country they have bridges for pedestrians over the road, or underground passageway.

I live in a city where taking an Uber or Lyft a few miles is like $25, maybe $50 at the last call surge. Unfortunately ride-sharing is a lot more expensive in cities that don't also have good transit, so I keep getting reminded that $25 is cheap for a ride share across any distance.

Back when I used to go out drinking, catching the last train home or taking an Uber was my go-to choice. I don't drink much nowadays, but the rush home in an area without good transit infrastructure is still something I think about a lot.

[-] tdawg@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

not everyone can justify that every time they go out with friends

[-] Urbanfox@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

People need to live within their means. It's not a human right to go get drunk every weekend. If you can't afford it, you stay home.

[-] LukeMedia@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Or get drunk at home

[-] NightAuthor@lemmy.world -3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This honestly reads like a defense of drunk driving, blaming the lack of infrastructure for bad decision.

Edit: or something very close to that.

But if you’re just saying we should design around stupid, then I guess I can agree there.

[-] hyorvenn@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Explaining is not forgiving.

[-] wishthane@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

You have to design around stupid, because this is the real world. People can only expected to be rational sometimes, and in aggregate, you need systems that expect people to take whatever is the most obvious or easy choice available to them, whether it's actually a good idea or not.

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this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
1605 points (99.1% liked)

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