2023 Nebraska Revised Statutes › Chapter 60 - Motor Vehicles › 60-6,198 - Driving under influence of alcoholic liquor or drugs; serious bodily injury; violation; penalty.

60-6,198.
Driving under influence of alcoholic liquor or drugs; serious bodily injury; violation; penalty.
(1) Any person who, while operating a motor vehicle in violation of section 60-6,196 or 60-6,197, proximately causes serious bodily injury to another person or an unborn child of a pregnant woman shall be guilty of a Class IIIA felony and the court shall, as part of the judgment of conviction, order the person not to drive any motor vehicle for any purpose for a period of at least sixty days and not more than fifteen years from the date ordered by the court and shall order that the operator's license of such person be revoked for the same period.
(2) For purposes of this section, serious bodily injury means bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death, a substantial risk of serious permanent disfigurement, or a temporary or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any part or organ of the body.
(3) For purposes of this section, unborn child has the same meaning as in section 28-396.
(4) The crime punishable under this section shall be treated as a separate and distinct offense from any other offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed while the person was in violation of this section.
Source
Laws 1986, LB 153, § 6;
Laws 1992, LB 291, § 13;
R.S.Supp.,1992, § 39-669.39;
Laws 1993, LB 370, § 307;
Laws 1997, LB 364, § 17;
Laws 2001, LB 38, § 50;
Laws 2006, LB 57, § 10;
Laws 2011, LB667, § 39;
Laws 2011, LB675, § 10.
Cross References
Conviction of felony involving use of vehicle, transmittal of abstract, see section 60-497.02.
Annotations
A 10-year driver's license revocation imposed on a defendant who was convicted of proximately causing serious bodily injury to another while driving under the influence was a mandatory part of the judgment of conviction and was not a condition of probation; therefore, the district court lacked jurisdiction to later reduce the revocation period. State v. Irish, 298 Neb. 61, 902 N.W.2d 669 (2017).
In making a determination as to causation in a prosecution for driving under the influence and causing serious bodily injury, a court should focus on a defendant's act of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and not on his or her intoxication. State v. Irish, 292 Neb. 513, 873 N.W.2d 161 (2016).
The elements of driving under the influence and causing serious bodily injury are: (1) The defendant was operating a motor vehicle, (2) the defendant was operating a motor vehicle in violation of section 60-6,196 or section 60-6,197, and (3) the defendant's act of driving under the influence proximately caused serious bodily injury to another person. State v. Irish, 292 Neb. 513, 873 N.W.2d 161 (2016).
The offense of driving under the influence in violation of section 60-6,196 is a lesser-included offense of driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury in violation of this section. State v. Dragoo, 277 Neb. 858, 765 N.W.2d 666 (2009).
The material elements of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury are: (1) the defendant must have been operating a motor vehicle; (2) the defendant must have been operating the vehicle in violation of section 60-6,196 (driving under the influence of alcohol); and (3) the defendant's act of driving under the influence of alcohol, in violation of section 60-6,196, must proximately cause serious bodily injury. State v. Bartlett, 3 Neb. App. 218, 525 N.W.2d 237 (1994).