Nick Keleman was on the phone with his daughter Megan when the attack that would kill her unfolded at a Stow Taco Bell drive-through on August 14, 2024. Now he is pushing Ohio lawmakers to pass a bill named for her that would require escape lanes at certain newly built or substantially renovated drive-through facilities, with exemptions, and the legislation has stalled in a Columbus committee for months.
Megan Keleman, 25, was fatally shot in the drive-through line, according to cleveland.com. As reported by FOX 8 News, 53-year-old Jason Williams rammed her car with his truck, got out, shot and killed her, and then took his own life. Her father was on the phone with her as the rampage happened, the station reports.
Out of that loss, the Keleman family has devoted their energy to passing a new escape-lane law they call Megan's Way Out. Nick Keleman has said a bypass lane could have allowed his daughter to exit and survive, and he has described the toll of watching it happen without being able to stop it: “As a father, you want to defend your family, you want to defend your kids any way possible, any means possible and not being able to do anything, that's tough and it's very easy to be bitter,” he said, per the same account.
What Senate Bill 264 Would Require
State Sen. Casey Weinstein, a Democrat from Hudson, introduced Senate Bill 264 in September 2025 to make an escape lane a state-law requirement. Weinstein has described it as a dedicated path alongside the main drive-through lane that allows vehicles to exit in an emergency, according to FOX 8. The bill would require certain newly constructed or substantially renovated restaurants, pharmacies and financial institutions with drive-through lanes to include a separate bypass lane, per cleveland.com's report.
Under the proposal, that bypass lane would need to be at least 10 feet wide, free of obstructions, and provide enough clearance for passenger vehicles and public safety vehicles alike, the outlet notes. A violation that endangers a person's health, safety or welfare could be classified as a minor misdemeanor.
Stuck in Committee Since Last Year
The bill was referred to the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee, where it remains after an initial hearing produced no committee vote, cleveland.com reports. If it does not pass before the end of the current General Assembly, it will have to be reintroduced in the next session — meaning Megan's loved ones would need to restart the legislative process in 2027 if it does not clear committee.
Nick Keleman has said he will not give up if the bill isn't approved this year and plans to keep campaigning until Megan's Way Out becomes Ohio state law. He and his family have urged lawmakers in Columbus to pass it, framing it as a public-safety issue rather than a partisan or political one.
A Local Push That's Already Spread
The push began close to home. The first business in Stow to build a two-lane drive-thru was the same Taco Bell where Megan died, located about a mile from Nick Keleman's home, according to FOX 8. Several cities — including Stow, Cuyahoga Falls, Green and Hartville — have already adopted the escape-lane requirement locally, and cleveland.com reports Whitehall and Macedonia have approved similar ordinances of their own, with Macedonia's version requiring a bypass lane at least 10 feet wide that lets vehicles exit without going through the drive-through.
Businesses submitting plans for new developments in those cities have been supportive of adding the lanes, FOX 8 reports. Megan's Way Out is intended to give drivers the ability to leave a violent situation before it escalates — the same option her family says was missing the night she died.
