Most people arrested after a road rage confrontation or a collision assume they’re facing something called “vehicular assault.” California doesn’t have a statute by that name. What prosecutors actually charge is more serious, and the decisions they make about how to file happen before you ever set foot in a courtroom. Understanding the real charge, the real stakes, and where a defense can actually be built is what determines how you respond from here.
At Bullard & Powell, APC., our founding partners Jeffrey Bullard and Sarah Powell bring more than 30 years of combined criminal defense experience in San Bernardino and the Inland Empire. These cases move fast. The prefiling period before formal charges are entered is often where the most important work happens, and that window doesn’t stay open long.
What California Law Actually Charges You With
California prosecutes so-called vehicular assault cases primarily under Penal Code Section 245(a)(1): assault with a deadly weapon. The statute doesn’t name vehicles specifically, but California courts have long held that a car, truck, or SUV qualifies as a deadly weapon when it’s used in a manner likely to cause great bodily injury. The charge doesn’t require a crash or even contact. It only requires that the vehicle was used in a way that would likely cause significant harm to another person.
When a DUI-related collision is involved, prosecutors may also charge Vehicle Code Section 23153, which covers driving under the influence while causing injury. These two statutes often appear together. Additional charges filed alongside the primary count can include felony reckless evading under Vehicle Code Section 2800.2, vehicular manslaughter under Penal Code Section 192(c), and resisting arrest under Penal Code Section 148(a). Multiple counts in a single charging document create compounding exposure that changes the entire calculus of how a case should be handled.
What the Prosecution Has to Prove
The jury instruction governing assault with a deadly weapon prosecutions is CALCRIM 875. Under it, the prosecution must establish that the defendant acted with a deadly weapon in a manner likely to apply force to another person, that the force was likely to produce great bodily injury, that the act was willful, and that a reasonable person would have recognized the act would directly and probably result in harmful force.
The Willfulness Standard
This is the element that surprises most people facing these charges. Willfulness under Penal Code Section 245(a)(1) doesn’t mean the driver intended to hurt anyone. It only means the act itself (the acceleration, the swerve, the cut-off) was done on purpose. A driver who makes an aggressive maneuver during a road rage incident but never plans to make contact can still satisfy the willfulness requirement. The prosecution doesn’t have to prove intent to injure; it only has to prove the act wasn’t accidental.
The Great Bodily Injury Standard
Great bodily injury means a significant or substantial physical injury. California courts have pointed to broken bones, concussions, and serious lacerations as examples. Critically, the prosecution doesn’t need to show that anyone was actually hurt. If the force applied was likely to cause that level of harm, the charge holds even when the other person walked away without a scratch. That distinction between actual injury and likely injury matters because it expands the range of incidents prosecutors can charge under this statute.
Penalties, the Wobbler, & the Three Strikes Risk
Penal Code Section 245(a)(1) is a wobbler offense, meaning prosecutors have discretion to charge it as a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the facts and the defendant’s history. A misdemeanor conviction carries up to one year in county jail. A felony conviction carries two, three, or four years in state prison and fines up to $10,000. When the alleged victim was a peace officer or firefighter, Penal Code Section 245(c) applies and the felony sentencing range increases to three, four, or five years.
A felony assault with a deadly weapon conviction counts as a strike under California’s Three Strikes Law. A single strike doubles the sentence imposed for any subsequent felony conviction. A third qualifying conviction (where the current offense is also a serious or violent felony) carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in state prison with severe restrictions on alternative sentencing. A conviction today doesn’t just affect this case. It follows you into every future interaction with the criminal justice system.
California Vehicle Code Section 13351.5 adds a separate, automatic consequence most people don’t learn about until it’s too late. Upon receiving a certified abstract showing a felony Penal Code Section 245 conviction where the court found the vehicle was the deadly weapon, the DMV is required to automatically revoke the person’s driving privileges. That revocation isn’t part of the sentence the judge imposes. It happens independently through the DMV and doesn’t require a separate hearing to trigger.
For non-citizens, a felony assault with a deadly weapon conviction can also trigger deportation proceedings and bars to naturalization under federal inadmissibility and deportability grounds. This consequence is entirely outside the sentencing court’s control.
Defense Strategies That Actually Work
Because the prosecution’s burden under CALCRIM 875 has multiple distinct elements, a defense doesn’t have to defeat all of them. Undercutting any one element creates reasonable doubt. The defenses that carry real weight address the specific requirements the prosecution must meet.
Lack of Willfulness
This is the most direct challenge to the charge. If the incident resulted from a sudden medical episode, an unavoidable reaction to road conditions, or a genuine accident rather than a purposeful act, the required mental state isn’t satisfied. Evidence supporting this defense includes medical records, dashcam footage, and witness testimony about conditions at the time of the incident.
Misidentification
Road rage incidents and multi-vehicle situations frequently involve chaotic scenes, multiple cars, and witnesses who saw only part of what happened. When identification of the driver or vehicle is inconsistent, contradicted by dashcam or traffic camera footage, or based on a brief glimpse under stressful circumstances, misidentification becomes a viable theory that can create substantial doubt about who actually did what.
Insufficient Force or Absence of Great Bodily Injury Risk
Even where a confrontation clearly occurred, the prosecution must establish that the vehicle was used in a manner likely to produce great bodily harm. When the alleged conduct falls short of that threshold, the charge under Penal Code Section 245(a)(1) can’t stand. Reducing the conduct to something that doesn’t satisfy the great bodily injury standard can mean the difference between a felony and a much lesser charge.
Constitutional Rights Violations
If the arrest involved unlawful detention, a search without probable cause, or chemical testing that didn’t follow proper protocols, evidence obtained through those violations can be suppressed. Removing key evidence from the prosecution’s case can shift the entire outcome.
Why Timing Is the Most Critical Variable
Prosecutors decide whether to file charges and at what level before a case ever reaches arraignment. That prefiling window is where a wobbler charge is most vulnerable to being reduced or declined entirely. Once a felony is formally filed, the path to a misdemeanor outcome becomes significantly harder.
Prefiling intervention means engaging with the prosecutor’s office directly during that window (before formal charges are entered) to present mitigating evidence, challenge the sufficiency of what law enforcement has submitted, and make the case for a reduced charge or a declination. It’s not available in every case, and it’s not guaranteed to succeed, but in the right situation it can prevent a felony conviction from ever happening. That outcome isn’t possible once the window closes.
Our familiarity with San Bernardino County prosecutors and our working relationships in Inland Empire courts give us direct access during this period. Every case we take is prepared as if it will go to trial from the first conversation, which creates the kind of leverage in negotiations that only comes when prosecutors know we’re genuinely ready to try the case.
The Consequences Outlast the Case
A felony strike record reshapes every future encounter with the legal system. An automatic DMV revocation under Vehicle Code Section 13351.5 can end someone’s ability to work. Immigration consequences can affect a family’s status in the country for years. Understanding what’s actually at stake from the beginning (not just the jail time the statute lists) is what allows a defense to be built around the full picture of what you’re trying to protect.
If you or someone you know is facing vehicular assault charges in California, the time to act is before charging decisions are locked in. Reach Bullard & Powell, APC. at (909) 771-2304 for a direct consultation with founding partners Jeffrey Bullard or Sarah Powell. Contact us to get started.