[1] The Criminal Code of Canada does not have a specific offence for vehicular homicide, but has a series of provisions covering driving offences causing death,[2] among them: The maximum penalty for dangerous driving causing death, absent any of the remaining 5 elements mentioned above, is 14 years' imprisonment.
Where death is the result of driving that falls short of a deliberate assault, the Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA 88) governs the disposal of the case.
The laws have the effect of making a vehicle a potentially deadly weapon, to allow for easier conviction and more severe penalties; in states without such statutes, defendants can still be charged with manslaughter or murder in some situations.
Murder charges are usually reserved for the most egregious cases, such as a convicted DUI offender who drives recklessly while intoxicated and thereby causes a fatal collision.
[10] There are two degrees of vehicular homicide: In Kentucky, vehicular homicide is defined under KRS 507.060(1) as (a) causing the death of another and (b) "The death results from the person's operation of a motor vehicle, including but not limited to boats and airplanes, under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance, or other substance which impairs driving ability as described in KRS 189A.010."
[12] In the state of Louisiana, vehicular homicide is defined as the killing of a human being while operating a motor vehicle, or other means of conveyance, under the influence of alcohol and/or controlled substances.
In the state of Minnesota, vehicular homicide is one of the six levels of criminal vehicular operation, and is defined as causing the death of a person, that does not constitute murder or manslaughter, as a result of operating a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner, or in a negligent manner while in violation of the driving while intoxicated law, or where the driver flees the scene in violation of the felony fleeing law.
[1] Some states, such as Minnesota, have statutes allowing for a charge of a vehicular homicide if an unborn child is killed or injured by a motorist.