Vehicular Assault – DUI Causing Injury in Colorado – Laws, Penalties, Defenses

Under Colorado CRS 18-3-205, vehicular assault occurs when you

1. drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol and
2. seriously injure someone in an accident.

Vehicular assault – also called DUI causing injury – is a class 4 felony, carrying:

• 2 to 6 years of prison,
• $2,000 to $500,000,
• a driver’s license suspension, and
• victim restitution.

The language of C.R.S. 18-3-205(1)(b)(I) states:

“If a person operates or drives a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or one or more drugs, or a combination of both alcohol and one or more drugs, and this conduct is the proximate cause of a serious bodily injury to another, such person commits vehicular assault.”

Below our Colorado DUI attorneys discuss in detail the following topics re. vehicular assault based on drunk or drugged driving:

• 1. Elements
• 2. Penalties
• 3. Defenses
• 4. Related Offenses
• Additional Resources

1. Elements

For you to be convicted of DUI causing injury in Colorado (“vehicular assault”), the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt these two elements:

1. You were operating the motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of alcohol and drugs; and
2. Your conduct is the proximate cause of serious bodily injury to another.

You are considered “under the influence” if your alcohol/drug consumption caused you to be substantially incapable, either mentally or physically, of exercising clear judgment, sufficient physical control, or due care in the safe operation of a vehicle.¹ If your blood alcohol alcohol (BAC) was 0.08% after the accident, the court can infer that you were intoxicated. If it was above 0.05% but below 0.08%, the court may use your BAC level with other evidence to determine whether you were under the influence or not.² With regard to drugs, it is unlawful to drive impaired by any kind of substance. This includes not only “street drugs” but also:

• prescription drugs,
• medical marijuana,
• inhaled vapors, and
• even over-the-counter drugs.³

2. Penalties

DUI causing injury is a class 4 felony in Colorado. A conviction carries:

• 2 to 6 years in prison (with 3 years of mandatory parole) and/or
• a fine of $2,000 to $500,000.

Additional penalties may include revocation of your Colorado driver’s license for one year and restitution payments to the injury victim. Note that if we can show that you were not intoxicated, the prosecutor may be willing to reduce your charge to vehicular assault based on reckless driving. This is a class 5 felony, carrying:

• 1 to 3 years in prison (with 2 years of mandatory parole) and/or
• a fine of $1,000 to $100,000.

3. Defenses

Here at Colorado Legal Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with DUI, including cases involving serious injuries. In our experience, the following four defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries:

1. You were not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. We have seen cases where drivers were having a medical episode, such as a seizure, and the police mistook the symptoms for intoxication
2. Your driving was not the cause of the accident. In these cases, we would hire an accident reconstruction expert to analyze the facts and explain to the court how intervening factors (such as weather, road conditions, or other drivers) contributed to the crash.
3. The blood tests or breath tests were not properly conducted. Police and lab workers make mistakes all the time, and we may be able to have the results excluded if we can show that proper procedures were not followed.
4. You were not the one operating the vehicle. Perhaps the real driver lied and placed all the blame on you; fortunately, we can usually demonstrate that you were just a passenger using traffic surveillance footage.

4. Related Offenses

If your DUI resulted in no serious injuries or only property damage, you may face a standard DUI charge under C.R.S. 42-4-1301. If someone died, however, you would be charged with vehicular homicide under CRS 18-3-106. For you to be convicted of vehicular homicide, the prosecutor must show two elements:

1. You were operating the motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of alcohol and drugs; and
2. Your conduct is the proximate cause of death to another.⁵

Note that both vehicular assault and vehicular homicide carry lesser penalties if the cause of the accident was not DUI but merely reckless driving. The following table spells out the punishments.

Offense	Code Section	Elements	DUI Penalty	Reckless Driving Penalty
Vehicular Assault	18-3-205 C.R.S.	Operating motor vehicle while reckless or under influence, causing serious bodily injury to another	Class 4 felony:  2 to 6 years prison and/or $2,000 to $500,000	Class 5 felony:  1 to 3 years prison and/or $1,000 to $100,000
Vehicular Homicide	18-3-106 C.R.S.	Operating motor vehicle while reckless or under influence, causing death of another	Class 3 felony:  4 to 12 years prison and/or $3,000 to $750,000	Class 4 felony:  2 to 6 years prison and/or $2,000 to $500,000

Additional Resources

For statistics on vehicular deaths, refer to the following:

• Impaired Driving Data – Colorado Department of Public Safety.
• NoDUIColorado.org – Colorado state website meant to educate people about DUI.
• Car Crash Deaths and Rates – Compiled by the National Injury Council.
• State by State Fatality Facts – Provided by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
• NHTSA Estimates for 2022 Show Roadway Fatalities Remain Flat After Two Years of Dramatic Increases – Compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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