Alabama House Passes Bill That Would Notify Parents of Child’s Traffic Ticket
MONTGOMERY, Ala.
March 25, 2025
WIAT
Tyler “TJ” Morgan was not wearing a seat belt when he was killed in a car crash nearly three years ago.
Now, “TJ’s Law” is carrying on his legacy and hopes to inform parents when their children receive traffic tickets.
“He was just a real outdoorsman, and he was a prankster,” said April Vafeas, Morgan’s mother. “So anytime a prank was played, you knew who set it up, and he had some pretty big ones.”
Vafeas lost her 21-year-old son in a car crash back in 2022. She said he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. After his funeral, Vafeas found traffic tickets she knew nothing about, which were three citations for the same behavior. She hopes “TJ’s Law” can help other parents.
“If they run a stop sign, or if they’re speeding or racing on the highway, anything like that, parents should be notified,” Vafeas said. “So, you can have an opportunity to correct that behavior in your child before it’s too late.”
The bill would give parents that chance by requiring law enforcement to contact them if their child under 19 gets a ticket. It would require a single attempt from the law enforcement agency to notify them through call, text or mail.
State Rep. Jamie Kiel (R-Russellville) sponsored the bill. He said it’s also about parental rights.
“A child could be driving your car, using your gas, using your insurance and get pulled over, and the parent might never know about it,” Kiel said. “I know just as a parent myself that if my child were pulled over, I would hope that I would be able to correct them, and hopefully, they wouldn’t do that again.”
Clarke County Sheriff DeWayne Smith said it’s a great idea, but he said dispatchers specifically should be the ones in charge of making the calls.
“If you’re putting that on the deputy that’s out trying to manage and go to call after call after call, that’s going kind of put him in a bind on that,” Smith said. “But I think it would be better served to do through the 9-1-1 system. That was my initial thought when you said that.”
Vafeas said even though she was close to her son, he never told her about the tickets.
“I would want every parent and grandparent to consider the fact that your child may not tell you these things,” Vafeas said, “and call your senators. Tell them that you want this bill passed.”
The bill passed the House and now heads to the Senate for a committee vote. If signed into law, police would start notifying parents of violations starting on October 1, 2025.
