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-Penal code section 192(c) is the California law
addressing vehicular manslaughter
not involving drugs or alcohol.
Prosecutors can charge you with this offense in situations
where you cause an accident that results
in the death of another person, in circumstances where you are
not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Now, the victim could be a passenger in your car.
It could be somebody in another vehicle.
Or it could be a pedestrian.
To make their case, prosecutors have
to prove that the accident was caused by your negligence
or by your violating a traffic law.
Now, keep in mind, it does not have
to be really outrageous reckless driving.
It could be the sort of things that we
see happen all the time.
It could be speeding 80 miles an hour on the freeway.
It could be a momentary inattention to traffic
because you're texting while driving.
It could be a situation where you're tailgating somebody,
and they stop very quickly.
And you're following too closely.
You don't have time to stop, and so you
slam into the back of them.
So it can be situations that we see every day.
It doesn't necessarily have to be outrageous driving.
A lot of people are surprised when
they get in this situation, and they're charged with a crime.
Because they think that, if they're in an accident,
that's really a civil matter, that the other party
could sue them or sue their insurance company.
But they're very surprised, and yes, unpleasantly
surprised to learn that they can actually
be charged with vehicular manslaughter.
And they say, listen, this was an accident.
I wasn't drunk.
I was not on drugs.
It was just sort of human error.
But the fact is this-- in the state of California,
if you have an accident where you're at fault
and somebody else is killed, you can
be charged with this crime and a very serious crime.