Horrifying Story: Did DUI Driver’s Travel Through Flood Cause Passenger’s Death?

Over the years, this blog has reported on dozens of Los Angeles DUI stories involving fatal wrecks. In court and in news reports, drivers often lament that they think about their crashes with remorse every single day.

Nen Yang, 55, will have to live the rest of his life knowing that he likely caused the death of an unidentified woman passenger on March 5th. Rains flooded some of the roads in Yuba County, but Yang, instead of stopping at a closed-off section of road between Highways 65 and 70, reportedly plowed right through the water that was laying on it. Only when it was too late did he realize that the water was six to eight feet deep—enough to submerge his vehicle.

Los Angeles’ KTLA television station reported that while Yang managed to struggle out of the flooded car, his 52-year-old female passenger was not so lucky. She died, trapped in the car as the water poured in.

California Highway Patrol officers reported that Yang was apparently going about 65 miles an hour when he hit that stretch of road, fast enough so that he missed the sign warning of the road’s closure. They charged him with felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter.

That charge could earn Yang a few years behind bars if the courts find him guilty. California’s Penal Code 191.5 deals with the situation. Gross vehicular manslaughter is a felony, and convicted offenders must spend four, six or ten years in a state prison. If the charge against Yang gets reduced to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, the consequences would be much lighter and could include up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Do you need help defending against a drug or DUI charge? Michael Kraut of Los Angeles’s Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is a trustworthy, highly qualified former prosecutor. Call a Los Angeles DUI attorney today to strategize for your defense seriously.