Imagine you are at home, enjoying dinner or watching television, and the Coroner and Highway Patrol knocks on your door and tells you that your child was killed in an accident. After the initial shock, you find out that your child was not at fault, and that the person that was at fault was driving illegally. Further investigation shows that the at fault person was not tested for alcohol and/or drug consumption, nor did the person have a driver's license.  

On August 8, 2015, my daughter Courtney Hudson, and her husband John Hudson, were killed while taking a leisurely drive on their motorcycle in Kershaw County. The driver that failed to yield the stop sign did not have a driver's license. He was not tested for drug and/or alcohol consumption because "it was not suspected he was intoxicated." He is an illegal immigrant, and although in November of 2015 he was charged with Reckless Homicide, that charge was dropped by the Kershaw County Solicitor's Office because there wasn't enough evidence (ie drinking and driving, texting and driving, etc) to charge him criminally. His only charge(s) was Driving without a License and Failure to Yield a Stop Sign, and unfortunately, as of now, Driving without a License isn't criminal.  

All fatal accidents on the roads of South Carolina should require mandatory drug and alcohol testing. Driving without a license should be treated as a felony when the result is fatal, just as DUI. Both are impairments, especially if one has never received a driver's license nor completed the driving test. 

Please help me by signing this petition to get our state legislature to create a law requiring mandatory testing of fatal accidents and also making Driving without a License a criminal offense when involved in a fatal accident. Thomas McElveen is our State Senator for Kershaw County and Jimmy Bales is our House Representative. You may also reach out to your State Senator and/or House Representative.  

Sheriff Jim Matthews of Kershaw County does his best to protect our community, but it is difficult when situations like this occur and there are bare or no consequences to the actions of people who blatantly disregard the law. By introducing a bill that will require drug/alcohol testing for all fatal accidents, and introducing a bill to treat Driving without a License as a criminal offense, both may become law and assist our local police department in keeping our communities safe.