KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee bill named after a Knoxville man who was killed while walking along Kingston Pike passed the Senate on April 17. The following week, it unanimously passed in the House of Representatives.
SB 2116, otherwise known as the "Ben Kredich Act," was introduced by Sen. Becky Massey (R - Knoxville) and is meant to prevent people from getting behind the wheel after using illegal opioids. It says that evidence showing a person used controlled substances within 24 hours before a violation can specifically be used to show that a person broke laws about driving under the influence.
It also lets first responders who give people opioid-antagonist medicine like Naloxone warn them about the risks of driving within 24 hours.
It's named after Ben Kredich, who was killed in August 2023 when an impaired driver went off the road and hit him on the sidewalk. He was remembered as someone who helped pave the way for children with special needs to get support in school, and who was proud to have achieved accolades in university.
He was also a founding force behind the UT FUTURE program, providing support for university students with special needs to transition into college life after high school.
"This bill is known as the Ben Kredich Act, it came to me from Senator Massey in Knoxville and it involves a young man who had autism. He had been here to the Capitol numerous times, and had advocated and testified before some Senate committees," said Rep. Dan Howell (R - Cleveland).