- Michigan's Drunk Driving Laws
- Michigan's new 0.08 law
- First time offense Michigan DUI
- OWI 2nd offense
- OWI 3rd offense
- Felony drunk driving
- The drunk driving statute: MCL 257.625
- OUIL, OWI, DUI, DWI, OUIN, and OWVI?
- Operating with the presence of controlled substance
- Michigan's child endangerment law
- Michigan's zero tolerance law
- Michigan drunk driving: frequently asked questions
- The Maze Legal Group
- Driver License Sanctions and License Reinstatement
- Court Procedure and Attorneys in DUI Cases
- Drunk Driving Defenses
- Field Sobriety Tests
- Breath and Blood Testing
- Michigan's Courts Enforcing Drunk Driving Laws
- Michigan Police Departments Directory
- Resources and DUI Attorney Directory
- DUI DWI Defense Videos
- News and Updates from the Maze Legal Group
- Home
Felony Drunk Driving
Printer friendly page of this article.
In addition to the felony charge of a 3rd offense, Michigan's drunk driving law makes it a felony to be involved in an accident causing death or "serious impairment" of another while intoxicated, impaired, or with the presence of any amount of a controlled substance.
The drunk driving statute makes it a 15 year felony for causing the death of a person, and it is a 20 year felony for causing the death of a police officer, firefighter or other emergency response personnel.
It is a five year felony for causing "serious impairment" of a body function of another person.
Interestingly, under the new revisions to the drunk driving laws in September 2004, impaired driving is no longer strictly defined by a certain blood alcohol measurement. Similarly, the "any amount of a controlled substance" does not, on its face, require a certain amount of controlled substance to be present. Under circumstances where someone is injured or killed, both of these provisions are questionable, since the level of impairment and relationship of a controlled substance's presence might be completely unrelated to the cause of the accident. As an example, a person might have had a single alcoholic beverage or smoked marijuana days prior to an accident caused by the other driver running a red light. The other driver having died in the accident, an investigation reveals a small presence of either alcohol or a controlled substance. Without any doubt that the accident was completely unavoidable and caused by the decedent, the surviving driver might still be charged with an extremely serious felony.
