Monday, November 23, 2015

An Overview of Vehicular Manslaughter

To begin with, let us understand what exactly vehicular manslaughter or vehicular homicide is. By the letter of the law, any undeliberate or unintentional accident that leads to death/s can result in the negligent driver being charged with vehicular manslaughter. These deaths can be of passengers, occupants of other motor vehicles, pedestrians, and construction or road workers.

For the most part, prosecutors charge drivers with vehicular manslaughter (or vehicular homicide as it is known in some states) when it is determined that the driver was negligent/guilty either because he was driving under the influence, driving recklessly, operating illegally (without proper documentation, insurance, drivers permit or even driving a stolen vehicle, to name a few).

Obtaining a DUI can be extremely aggravating. No one is going to argue with that. But receiving the full force of the law does not need to be something that you just assume is going to happen. It can happen if your DUI lawyer is incompetent or distracted. If you want outstanding legal assistance, press right here.

Types of driving that will lead to a vehicular manslaughter charge

As mentioned above, not all accidents causing deaths will result in prosecutors filing vehicular manslaughter charges. To determine whether or not these charges are relevant in the case, the prosecution will check to see if any of the following types of driving occurred in the accident.

  1. Negligent driving (ordinary negligence) – Negligence is a rather broad term but as far as the judicial system is concerned, ordinary negligence while operating a vehicle is when the driver was inattentive, driving without care and consideration or did not take safety precautions that any reasonable driver would have taken under the same circumstances. For example, if a driver took his eyes off the road for a brief moment to reach for the car lighter and ended up rear ending someone, he was essentially negligent in causing the accident. 
  2. Criminal negligence, gross negligence, and reckless disregard to others’ safety – This is a more aggravated form of negligence. To give you an example of a situation that would surely qualify as criminal or gross negligence, a driver who was signaled to stop by law enforcement officers because he jumped a traffic light, disregards the commands of the police officers and leads them on the pursuit in which he further jumps traffic lights and t-bones another car at an intersection and kills its driver. This is a typical example of criminal negligence. Even though the crash was unintentional, the driver’s actions were knowingly reckless.
  3. Impaired driving/driving under the influence – According to DUI attorneys, driving under the influence cases are the most common vehicular homicide cases. It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or higher in most states. In recent years, there has been a lot of campaigning and awareness channeled towards drinking and driving, yet it continues to be the number one threat to American public safety. An accident causing death where the driver was over the legal limit will inevitably lead to vehicular manslaughter charges and other charges as well.
If you have made a mistake on the road that involves alcohol or drugs then you need a DUI lawyer. The prosecution has deep pockets and they are going to mount an offense that is akin to something Peyton Manning would put together. You can find impressive legal help here: https://usattorneys.com/. This is a marvelous website but you are going to need all the legal help you can muster. This site streamlines the process which does unnerve the opposition but if you can find shoes for sale online how come you cannot find awesome legal help?  

You need a lawyer to help you with the legal process


If you wrongfully face vehicular homicide charges, you need to appoint an experienced DUI lawyer and get started on building a strong defense, because a conviction can easily ruin your life. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts