Updated October 14, 2026
Two kinds of people search for this page. If you were hit by a driver who had been drinking, your case is an injury claim, and it is handled on the injury side of this office: start with the personal injury page and the guide to what to do after a crash. The rest of this guide is for the driver who was arrested after a collision in which someone else was hurt.
An injury changes the statute. A DUI with no crash is charged under Vehicle Code section 23152 and is a misdemeanor. A DUI in which someone other than the driver is hurt is charged under section 23153, which can be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor, carries a one-year license suspension on a first offense, and makes an ignition interlock mandatory. This guide covers what the prosecutor has to prove, how the felony decision is made, and what the ranges look like with and without priors.
What the prosecutor has to prove
Section 23153 has three parts, and all three have to be proven:
- You were driving under the influence, or with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more (0.04 in a commercial vehicle or with a paying passenger), or under the influence of a drug or a combination.
- At the same time, you did something forbidden by law or neglected a duty in driving. In practice that means a traffic violation or ordinary negligence: speed, an unsafe lane change, a red light, following too closely. The statute says no specific section has to be named.
- That act or neglect proximately caused bodily injury to someone other than you. Any injury counts; it does not have to be serious. A passenger in your own car counts. Your own injuries do not.
The second part is where these cases are most often won or lost. Being over the limit is not, by itself, a violation of section 23153. If you were rear-ended at a light, or the other driver ran the stop sign, the state still has to prove that something you did wrong at the wheel caused the injury. That is a question of evidence about the crash, not about the breath test.
Felony or misdemeanor: the filing decision
A first offense under section 23554 is what California calls a wobbler: the prosecutor files it as a felony or a misdemeanor, and the judge can later reduce a felony to a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 17. As a felony it carries a term of 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison. As a misdemeanor it carries 90 days to one year in county jail. Either way the fine base is $390 to $1,000 before assessments.
The decision is made early, on the police report, and turns on the severity of the injury, the blood alcohol result, the driving, and the record. It is not final, which is why what the file looks like in the first weeks matters.
When probation is granted on a first offense, section 23556 sets the floor: at least five days in jail, the fine, and a DUI program of three months, or nine months if the result was 0.20 or higher or the test was refused. The DMV suspends the license for one year under section 13352, and an interlock is mandatory for 12 months under section 23575.3. A restricted license is available once the program enrollment, the interlock, and the SR-22 are in place, without a waiting period.
With priors
A prior DUI, a prior DUI with injury, or a prior wet reckless within 10 years moves the case to a different section, and the floor rises with each one:
- One prior (section 23560): state prison, or 120 days to one year in county jail, with a fine of $390 to $5,000. With probation, section 23562 requires either 120 days in jail, or 30 days plus an 18-month or 30-month program. The license is revoked for three years and the interlock term is 24 months.
- Two or more priors (section 23566): a felony with a term of two, three, or four years in state prison and a fine of $1,015 to $5,000. The license is revoked for five years, the interlock term is 36 months, and you are designated a habitual traffic offender for three years.
- A prior felony DUI (section 23550.5) makes any new DUI, with or without injury, a felony-or-misdemeanor on its own, with a four-year revocation. See third DUI and felony DUI.
The enhancements that change the case
- Great bodily injury. If the injury is significant or substantial, the prosecutor can allege an enhancement under Penal Code section 12022.7, which adds three years to a felony sentence and makes the conviction a strike under the three strikes law. Whether an injury meets that definition is a factual question that is argued with the medical records.
- More than one person hurt. Section 23558 adds one year for each additional injured person, up to three, on a felony conviction.
- Restitution. The court orders you to pay the injured person's losses that insurance does not cover. The injured person's civil claim runs separately, usually against your auto policy.
- A death is charged under different statutes, vehicular manslaughter or, with a prior Watson advisory, murder. That is outside this guide, and it is a reason to speak with an attorney before anyone else.
The DMV side
The DMV's administrative suspension runs on the 0.08 result alone, four months on a first offense and one year with a prior, and the hearing to contest it has to be requested within 10 days of the arrest. The 10-day DMV deadline guide covers it. On conviction under section 23153, the court-side action is a one-year suspension, a three-year revocation with one prior, or five years with two.
What can change the outcome
Causation. Who caused the collision is a separate question from who had been drinking. The other driver's fault, a mechanical failure, road conditions, and the injured person's own conduct all bear on the second and third elements.
The number. After a crash there is often a long gap before a blood draw, and alcohol that was still being absorbed at the time of driving can read higher later. Hospital blood draws raise their own questions about consent, warrants, and how the sample was handled.
The injury. What the records actually show about its nature and its cause decides whether a great bodily injury enhancement can stand, and often whether the felony filing can.
Statements. What was said at the scene and at the hospital, and whether it was taken lawfully, is reviewed line by line.
If the arrest was in the last 10 days, the DMV request comes first. A consultation with a Long Beach DUI defense attorney covers the hearing, the filing, and the police report together. Long Beach cases are heard at the courthouse on Magnolia Avenue; the courthouses page lists it and the courts for the surrounding cities.
This page is general information for Long Beach residents, not legal advice about any specific situation. Agency fees and procedures change; confirm details with the agency before you rely on them.
