Published April 22, 2025 · New Laws

For families who have lost someone to an impaired driver, few things are harder to hear than that the driver had been arrested for drunk or drugged driving before. On April 9, 2025, a new Ohio law took effect that increases the penalties for aggravated vehicular homicide caused by impaired driving, especially for repeat offenders. It also gives police a new tool for detecting drugs.

Here is what the law does, and what it does and does not change for a family's civil case.

The bill

House Bill 37 of the 135th General Assembly is titled on the legislature's website as a bill to "increase penalties for OVI and aggravated vehicular homicide." (OVI stands for operating a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs.) It passed the House in May 2024, passed the Senate on December 18, 2024, and was signed by the Governor on January 8, 2025. It took effect April 9, 2025.

The bill amends many sections of the Revised Code, including R.C. 2903.06 (aggravated vehicular homicide), R.C. 2929.14 and 2929.142 (prison terms), and R.C. 4511.19 and 4511.191 (OVI and implied consent to testing).

What changed for deadly impaired driving cases

According to the Legislative Service Commission's final analysis of the bill:

A new tiered system of prison terms. Aggravated vehicular homicide caused by an OVI offense was already a serious felony with a mandatory prison term. The new law creates tiers that raise the minimum mandatory prison term based on the driver's history:

  • A driver with no qualifying history still faces a second-degree felony with a mandatory prison term.
  • A driver who was under a license suspension, had no valid license, or had one prior OVI offense (or one prior traffic-related homicide, manslaughter, or assault offense) within the previous 20 years faces a first-degree felony.
  • A driver with two such prior offenses within 20 years faces a mandatory minimum term in the range of 5 to 15 years.
  • A driver with three or more such prior offenses within 20 years faces a mandatory minimum term in the range of 12 to 20 years.

A longer look back. The analysis explains that the law adds or expands a 20-year lookback period for prior offenses. Under the old law, the most serious enhancement looked back only ten years.

Higher fines. The maximum fine for aggravated vehicular homicide caused by an OVI offense is now $25,000 for all offenders, up from $15,000 or $20,000 under prior law.

Oral fluid testing. Police may now collect and test an oral fluid sample from a person arrested for OVI to detect the presence of a drug of abuse. Drivers are considered to have consented to this test if arrested. The analysis notes that an oral fluid test can show the presence and type of a drug but not its concentration, so it may need to be paired with other evidence of impairment.

What the law does not do

It is important to be clear about the limits of this change.

It does not compensate families. Criminal penalties punish the offender and protect the public. Prison time and fines do not pay for a family's lost income, funeral expenses, or the loss of a parent, child, or spouse. That is the role of the civil wrongful death claim, brought by the personal representative of the estate for the benefit of the family. R.C. 2125.02(A).

It does not change the civil deadline. A wrongful death lawsuit generally must still be filed within two years after the death. R.C. 2125.02(F)(1). A long criminal case does not automatically extend that deadline.

How the criminal case can help the civil case

Even though they are separate, the criminal investigation often produces evidence that matters in the wrongful death claim: chemical test results, crash reconstruction, video, and the driver's prior record. Oral fluid test results may now be part of that evidence in drugged-driving cases. A driver's prior OVI history may also matter to whether others, such as a vehicle owner who lent the car, share responsibility.

Our guide chapter on criminal and civil cases explains how families can follow the prosecution and use what it produces. We also discussed a case in which the civil claims were resolved before the criminal case ended in our post on the Franklin County settlement in Casey Goodson Jr.'s death.

Insurance usually matters more than the sentence

In our experience, families are often shocked to learn that an impaired driver who caused a death carried only the minimum insurance, or none at all. That is why it is important to look at every possible source of coverage, including your own family's uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and any business or employer connected to the driver or the vehicle. Our chapter on insurance coverage explains the options, and our pages on drunk driver wrongful death and car crash wrongful death describe how these cases are investigated.

This article is general information about Ohio law, not legal advice about your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Deadlines and rules change; talk to a lawyer about your family's situation.