DUI With an Alleged Injury
An injury DUI case requires analysis of both impairment and causation. An accident occurring after alcohol or drug use does not, by itself, prove every element of the charge.
RV Litigation Group PC is based in San Francisco and represents clients throughout California. The review begins with the actual papers, the procedural stage, and the evidence relevant to the issue.
The Legal Questions
Under Vehicle Code section 23153, the charged theory requires driving under the influence or with a prohibited alcohol level, an additional unlawful act or neglect of a legal duty while driving, and resulting bodily injury to another person. The act or neglect and its causal role must be identified.
The other driving violation or neglect can involve ordinary negligence under the applicable theory. The prosecution need not establish gross negligence in every section 23153 case. Great bodily injury is a separate allegation requiring its own analysis.
Separate Impairment From the Cause of Injury
An injury after a collision is not the entire offense
A section 23153 allegation requires the charged DUI theory plus an unlawful driving act or failure to perform a legal duty that causes injury to another person. Ordinary negligence may satisfy the separate driving-duty component; prosecutors do not have to show extreme recklessness in every case. They still must connect the relevant act or omission to the injury.
Test each link in the collision account
Counsel may review traffic-signal information, vehicle damage, roadway photographs, witness sightlines, video and available vehicle data. The question is not simply whether another motorist also made a mistake. Multiple contributing causes are possible, and the accused driver's conduct need not be the only cause. The evidence must nevertheless establish the legally required causal connection.
Keep medical and impairment evidence distinct
Collision injuries or medical conditions may affect observations of balance, speech and coordination. Those issues differ from whether another person suffered the bodily injury charged and how it occurred. Chemical-test timing, medical records and reconstruction evidence should be evaluated together. Injury severity, additional allegations, prior convictions and the disposition may affect exposure, so a generic DUI penalty chart cannot answer the case.
What a Defense Review Examines
Collision reconstruction
Review scene measurements, vehicle data, signals, photographs, witness sight lines, and the conduct of other road users.
Medical and testing evidence
Distinguish the alleged injury from preexisting conditions and examine its cause alongside chemical testing and the driving timeline.
Records That Help Explain the Matter
Gather charging papers, DMV notices, collision information, photographs, insurance correspondence, and available medical evidence. Preserve vehicle and electronic evidence before repair, disposal, or overwriting.
A Hypothetical California Matter
Following a San Diego intersection collision, a driver faces an injury DUI allegation. The parties disagree about the signal and cause of impact. Counsel would review impairment evidence separately from the alleged driving breach, causation, and medical injury.
This fictional example illustrates questions for review. It is not a firm case or a predicted outcome. The county identifies the setting, not a special legal rule or an additional office.
Two vehicles collide at a San Rafael intersection. One driver disputes both impairment and an allegation that an unsafe turn caused the other driver's shoulder injury. Witness accounts conflict about the signal. Counsel examines testing, signal evidence, impact locations and medical timing to identify which elements are genuinely disputed.
Potential Consequences and Next Decisions
Charge classification, injury enhancements, prior convictions, restitution, and licensing consequences require separate review. An insurance claim may proceed on a different track and does not decide criminal guilt.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The prosecution must establish the charged impairment or alcohol-level theory, the additional driving act or neglect, causation, and injury.
No. Bodily injury and a separately alleged great-bodily-injury enhancement are different questions.
Yes. It can be relevant to the sequence and causation, but does not automatically resolve the accused driver’s responsibility.
Legal Resources
General information, not advice for a particular case. The cited jury instructions explain elements and selected defenses; they do not calculate a sentence or resolve disputed facts.
- California DMV — DUI hearings and licensing
- Judicial Council CALCRIM 2100 (2026 text reproduced by Justia)
