Pen. Code, § 191.5 · Chapter 1. Homicide
Pen. Code, § 191.5
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, in the driving of a vehicle, where the driving was in violation of Section 23140, 23152, or 23153 of the Vehicle Code, and the killing was either the proximate result of the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, and with gross negligence, or the proximate result of the commission of a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner, and with gross negligence.
(b) Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought, in the driving of a vehicle, where the driving was in violation of Section 23140, 23152, or 23153 of the Vehicle Code, and the killing was either the proximate result of the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, but without gross negligence, or the proximate result of the commission of a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner, but without gross negligence.
(c) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d), gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in violation of subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 4, 6, or 10 years.
(2) Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in violation of subdivision (b) is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for 16 months or two or four years.
(d) A person convicted of violating subdivision (a) who has one or more prior convictions of this section or of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 192, subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 192.5 of this code, or of violating Section 23152 punishable under Sections 23540, 23542, 23546, 23548, 23550, or 23552 of, or convicted of Section 23153 of, the Vehicle Code, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 15 years to life. Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 2930) of Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3 shall apply to reduce the term imposed pursuant to this subdivision.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 1203.1 or 1203a, if a person is convicted of a violation of this section and is granted probation, the period of probation shall be not less than three nor more than five years.
(f) This section shall not be construed as prohibiting or precluding a charge of murder under Section 188 upon facts exhibiting wantonness and a conscious disregard for life to support a finding of implied malice, or upon facts showing malice consistent with the holding of the California Supreme Court in People v. Watson, 30 Cal.3d 290.
(g) This section shall not be construed as making any homicide in the driving of a vehicle or the operation of a vessel punishable which is not a proximate result of the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to felony, or of the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner.
(h) For the penalties in subdivision (d) to apply, the existence of any fact required under subdivision (d) shall be alleged in the information or indictment and either admitted by the defendant in open court or found to be true by the trier of fact.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 180, Sec. 1. (AB 1087) Effective January 1, 2026.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=191.5.
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- sha256 a79562636a78dd03cb72255eec53b3a226b27c66beffb105477bbe812ae1496f
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- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 188Printed as Section 188
- Pen. Code, § 192Printed as Section 192
- Pen. Code, § 192.5Printed as Section 192.5 of this code
- Pen. Code, § 1170Printed as Section 1170
- Pen. Code, § 1203.1Printed as Section 1203.1 or 1203a
- Pen. Code, § 1203aPrinted as Section 1203.1 or 1203a
- Pen. Code, pt. 3, tit. 1, ch. 7, art. 2.5Credit on Term of ImprisonmentPrinted as Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 2930) of Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3
Cited by 22 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 191.5. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 192Printed as Section 191.5
- Pen. Code, § 192.5Printed as Section 191.5
- Pen. Code, § 193.7Printed as Section 191.5
- Pen. Code, § 193.8Printed as Section 191.5
- Pen. Code, § 667Printed as Sections 187 to 191.5, inclusive
- Pen. Code, § 977Printed as Section 191.5
- Pen. Code, § 1170.12Printed as Sections 187 to 191.5, inclusive
- Pen. Code, § 1192.8Printed as Section 191.5
- Pen. Code, § 1203.44Printed as Section 191.5 of this code
- Pen. Code, § 3057Printed as Section 191.5
Streets and Highways Code
Vehicle Code
- Veh. Code, § 9250.14Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
- Veh. Code, § 9250.19Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
- Veh. Code, § 13350Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
- Veh. Code, § 13350.5Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
- Veh. Code, § 13954Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
- Veh. Code, § 15300Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
- Veh. Code, § 15302Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
- Veh. Code, § 23550.5Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
- Veh. Code, § 23592Printed as Section 191.5 of the Penal Code
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