When the term “vehicular assault” is brought to attention, many individuals picture someone intentionally hurting or killing someone with their vehicle in their minds. However, more often than not, vehicular assault and homicide cases are unintentional or stem from road rage incidents. With Colorado having a hot real estate market and flourishing job opportunities, many individuals that have moved here from out of state have brought their big city methods for bullying and practicing unsafe traffic maneuvering with them. This unfortunately means that there has been a significant increase in vehicular assault and vehicular homicide cases in Colorado, and Colorado Springs is no exception.

While many drivers would fail to agree, we all make mistakes and drive negligently at some point or another. Unfortunately, sometimes these moments of negligence can cause life-altering consequences. Sometimes, drivers don’t even realize how irresponsible or negligent they are being until it’s too late, and pedestrians, bicyclists, as well as other vehicles can be involved. If another individual’s actions are the result of any injuries or deaths sustained in the accident, they could be charged with vehicular assault or vehicular homicide.

Vehicular assault and homicide are both considered to be serious traffic offenses that can result in felony convictions. Prison time and steep fines may be imposed upon those convicted, some of which may exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars. The aforementioned reasons and more should prompt an individual to seek the legal advice of an experienced Colorado Springs traffic offense lawyer or a Colorado Springs DUI defense lawyer as soon as possible. If a driver is charged with a DUI or other traffic crime with a vehicular assault or homicide charge attached, the driver may be able to reduce their punishment by hiring an experienced and diligent DUI or traffic crime attorney.

Can You Be Charged With Vehicular Assault or Homicide Even If It Was An Accident?

Vehicular assault and vehicular homicide charges are some of the heftiest and most serious consequences that could result from injuring or wrongfully killing someone with a vehicle. Unfortunately, even in circumstances where a driver unintentionally commits vehicular assault or homicide, they can still have charges brought against them in the state of Colorado.

Furthermore, many people do not realize that felony vehicular assault and vehicular homicide can be charged without being impaired. However, it is possible to face serious felony charges if the driver had consumed alcohol or driven under the influence of drugs, regardless of the driver's level of intoxication. There are several consequences associated with a felony conviction, including a mandatory prison sentence, the loss of civil rights, the loss of gun ownership rights, additional license suspensions, and the inability to pursue future employment opportunities.

Vehicular assault and homicide, however, are not sole charges, and there must first be an initial charge of some sort of endangerment in order to tack on a vehicular homicide or vehicular assault charge. In turn, there are many different types of traffic charges that can result in having a vehicular assault or homicide charge tacked on, depending upon the circumstances of the case.

What Is Vehicular Assault?

Vehicular assault is defined under Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-3-205, as well as the penalties associated with a vehicular assault conviction. Under CRS 18-3-205, vehicular assault is a crime that occurs when two specific factors are met:

• Driving recklessly or under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both AND
• The way the driver is operating the vehicle is the proximate cause of serious bodily injury to another individual

Essentially, vehicular assault is a term used to describe that a driver’s negligence has caused another individual serious injury while operating their vehicle.

Under CRS18-3-205, vehicular assault is defined as a strict liability crime. Consequently, it is irrelevant whether the defendant intended to harm the victim. All that is left to determine is whether or not the defendant caused serious injury by driving recklessly or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This can be easily proven with medical records and the victim’s physician’s statement.

What Is Vehicular Homicide?

Under Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-1-106 defines vehicular homicide as the death of an individual caused by a driver:

• Operating their vehicle under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or both
• Operating their vehicle in a reckless manner

A driver must be “substantially incapable, either mentally or physically, or both mentally and physically, of exercising clear judgment, sufficient control, or due care in the safe operation of a vehicle.” This can be proven through roadside tests, as well as blood alcohol concentration levels, as well as be used to influence the decision of a judge or jury.

Additionally, when a driver is characterized as driving recklessly in a vehicular homicide case, they must be consciously disregarding a “substantial and unjustifiable risk”. Essentially, this means that the motorist must know that they were actively putting others on the road around them at risk, but chose to do it anyway.

Penalties For Vehicular Assault & Vehicular Homicide In Colorado

Charges of Colorado vehicular homicide and assault are extremely serious. Colorado is aggressively prosecuting DUI and reckless driving homicide and assault cases, just as it aggressively prosecutes murder cases. As is understandable, vehicular homicide and assault cases are emotionally charged. Grief and other hard emotions often accompany the loss of the life of another person, regardless of whether the deceased was a passenger of the accused, a pedestrian, a bicyclist, or an occupant of another vehicle.

There is often a great deal of guilt and remorse felt by people accused of vehicular assault and especially vehicular homicide after a tragic or fatal accident has occurred. Although valid, this warranted sentiment does not eliminate the penalties associated with vehicular homicide or vehicular assault charges. The penalties that a driver may face when being charged with vehicular homicide or assault are far-reaching and life altering.

Penalties For Vehicular Assault

Under CRS 18-3-205, Colorado law defines vehicular assault as reckless or impaired driving that results in serious bodily injury to another individual. However, there are different penalties depending upon whether the driver was impaired or driving recklessly.

Reckless driving vehicular assault has penalties that include:

• Class 5 felony conviction
• 1 to 3 years in prison
• Between $1,000 and $100,000 in fines

A DUI vehicular assault has penalties that include:

• Class 4 felony conviction
• 2 to 6 years in prison
• Between $2,000 and $500,000 in fines

Penalties For Vehicular Homicide In Colorado

CRS 18-1-106 under Colorado law defines vehicular homicide as driving in a reckless manner or under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or both, which therefore caused an accident that resulted in the death of an individual. Just as with vehicular assault, the penalties associated with vehicular homicide in Colorado are defined depending upon whether the driver was acting recklessly or under the influence.

Drivers that are charged with reckless driving vehicular homicide can face penalties that include:

• Class 4 felony conviction
• 2 to 6 years in prison
• Between $2,000 and $500,000 in fines

Drivers that are charged with a DUI vehicular homicide in Colorado can face penalties that include:

• Class 3 felony conviction
• 4 to 12 years in prison
• Between $3,000 and $750,000 in fines

Vehicular assault and homicide are criminal offenses that occur when a driver causes serious injury or death to another person while operating a vehicle. These charges can be applied even if the incident was unintentional and can result in felony convictions, prison time, and steep fines. In the state of Colorado, vehicular assault occurs when a driver is operating a vehicle recklessly or under the influence and causes serious injury to another person, while vehicular homicide is the unintentional killing of another person through reckless or drunk driving. It is possible to reduce the consequences of these charges by hiring an experienced DUI or traffic crime lawyer. These charges can be applied even if the driver was not impaired by alcohol or drugs, and they can result in the loss of civil rights, gun ownership rights, and employment opportunities.