Closed petition: Impose financial penalties when parent is killed due to dangerous driving

Closed on 7 October 2026

We want courts to be able to order those convicted of killing a parent through drink driving, drug driving, dangerous driving or hit-and-run offences to pay ongoing financial support for the child. This could be known as "Butler’s Law".

When a reckless driver takes a parent’s life, the children left behind often lose both emotional and financial support. Current systems do not fully recognise the long-term impact on those children. Butler’s Law would ensure courts can consider ordering the guilty party to pay financial support to the child. This way, responsibility would not end with a prison sentence.