Vehicular Assault in the Second Degree

Definition under New York law

PL 120.03 · Original statutory wording; excerpts must be read together with the full section.

§ 120.03 Vehicular assault in the second degree.A person is guilty of vehicular assault in the second degree when heor she causes serious physical injury to another person, and either:(1) operates a motor vehicle in violation of subdivision two, three,four or four-a of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle andtraffic law or operates a vessel or public vessel in violation ofparagraph (b), (c), (d) or (e) of subdivision two of sectionforty-nine-a of the navigation law, and as a result of such intoxicationor impairment by the use of a drug, or by the combined influence ofdrugs or of alcohol and any drug or drugs, operates such motor vehicle,vessel or public vessel in a manner that causes such serious physicalinjury to such other person, or(2) operates a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating ofmore than eighteen thousand pounds which contains flammable gas,radioactive materials or explosives in violation of subdivision one ofsection eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law, andsuch flammable gas, radioactive materials or explosives is the cause ofsuch serious physical injury, and as a result of such impairment by theuse of alcohol, operates such motor vehicle in a manner that causes suchserious physical injury to such other person, or(3) operates a snowmobile in violation of paragraph (b), (c) or (d) ofsubdivision one of section 25.24 of the parks, recreation and historicpreservation law or operates an all terrain vehicle as defined inparagraph (a) of subdivision one of section twenty-two hundredeighty-one of the vehicle and traffic law and in violation ofsubdivision two, three, four, or four-a of section eleven hundredninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law, and as a result of suchintoxication or impairment by the use of a drug, or by the combinedinfluence of drugs or of alcohol and any drug or drugs, operates suchsnowmobile or all terrain vehicle in a manner that causes such seriousphysical injury to such other person.If it is established that the person operating such motor vehicle,vessel, public vessel, snowmobile or all terrain vehicle caused suchserious physical injury while unlawfully intoxicated or impaired by theuse of alcohol or a drug, then there shall be a rebuttable presumptionthat, as a result of such intoxication or impairment by the use ofalcohol or a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alcoholand any drug or drugs, such person operated the motor vehicle, vessel,public vessel, snowmobile or all terrain vehicle in a manner that causedsuch serious physical injury, as required by this section.Vehicular assault in the second degree is a class E felony.

In everyday language

This offense requires serious physical injury and one of three alternative routes involving specified intoxication or impairment violations: a motor vehicle or vessel, a heavy vehicle carrying specified hazardous materials, or a snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle. Each route requires the specified causal connection between impairment, operation, and injury, and the statute provides a rebuttable presumption of that connection when its stated conditions are established.

At a criminal trial, the prosecutor must prove every element of the charged subsection and that you committed the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. An accusation is not proof of guilt. Where the statute provides alternatives, the prosecutor need not prove every alternative; the charged theory matters. Affirmative defenses may have different proof rules.