Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree

Definition under New York law

PL 125.12 · Original statutory wording; excerpts must be read together with the full section.

§ 125.12 Vehicular manslaughter in the second degree. A person is guilty of vehicular manslaughter in the second degree when he or she causes the death of 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 and traffic law or operates a vessel or public vessel in violation of paragraph (b), (c), (d) or (e) of subdivision two of section forty-nine-a of the navigation law, and as a result of such intoxication or impairment by the use of a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and any drug or drugs, operates such motor vehicle, vessel or public vessel in a manner that causes the death of such other person, or (2) operates a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than eighteen thousand pounds which contains flammable gas, radioactive materials or explosives in violation of subdivision one of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law, and such flammable gas, radioactive materials or explosives is the cause of such death, and as a result of such impairment by the use of alcohol, operates such motor vehicle in a manner that causes the death of such other person, or (3) operates a snowmobile in violation of paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of subdivision one of section 25.24 of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law or operates an all terrain vehicle as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section twenty-two hundred eighty-one of the vehicle and traffic law in violation of subdivision two, three, four, or four-a of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law, and as a result of such intoxication or impairment by the use of a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and any drug or drugs, operates such snowmobile or all terrain vehicle in a manner that causes the death of such other person. If it is established that the person operating such motor vehicle, vessel, public vessel, snowmobile or all terrain vehicle caused such death while unlawfully intoxicated or impaired by the use of alcohol or a drug, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that, as a result of such intoxication or impairment by the use of alcohol or a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and any drug or drugs, such person operated the motor vehicle, vessel, public vessel, snowmobile or all terrain vehicle in a manner that caused such death, as required by this section. Vehicular manslaughter in the second degree is a class D felony.

In everyday language

This statute covers a death caused through specified unlawful intoxicated or impaired operation of motor vehicles, vessels, snowmobiles, or all-terrain vehicles, with a separate route for certain heavy vehicles carrying hazardous materials. It requires the specified connection between intoxication or impairment, operation, and death, and provides a rebuttable presumption when its stated triggering facts 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.