Law treats deaths caused by criminally negligent driving as felonies

A person who causes another person's death through criminally negligent driving commits a class 5 felony, a serious crime. This rule covers people operating or driving a motor vehicle. The person's criminally negligent driving must directly cause the death. A referendum petition filed within 90 days after the legislature's final adjournment delays any challenged provision until voters approve it in November 2026 and the governor officially declares the result. The law applies to offenses committed on or after its applicable effective date.

License officials must take away a driver's license following a conviction for criminally negligent homicide while driving. These rules cover criminally negligent driving deaths. Such convictions count alongside other listed offenses toward repeat-offender status. License officials must act immediately when they receive a record of an adult or minor driver's conviction. License revocation also covers juveniles found responsible for conduct that would be this crime if committed by an adult. Repeat-offender status requires at least three listed convictions arising from separate acts within seven years. The law sets September 1, 2026, as its effective date. A timely referendum petition delays challenged provisions until voter approval in November 2026 and the governor's official declaration of the result.

Police may require a blood test in qualifying driving-death cases, and evidence from an authorized involuntary blood test is allowed in prosecutions for that crime. These rules include suspected criminally negligent homicide while operating or driving a motor vehicle. Physical restraint for testing requires probable cause, meaning reasonable grounds to believe the person committed a listed crime, and refusal to take, complete, or cooperate with testing. The evidence rule covers involuntary blood tests authorized under the law's testing rules. The law sets September 1, 2026, as its effective date. A timely referendum petition delays challenged provisions until voter approval in November 2026 and the governor's official declaration of the result.

The law's mobile-device provision does not retain the separate misdemeanor traffic penalty for conduct that directly causes another person's death. This provision concerns deaths directly caused by conduct covered by the driving rules for mobile electronic devices. The removal concerns the death-related penalty in the mobile-device section; it does not itself make every death involving device use a felony. This provision applies to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2026, unless a timely referendum petition delays it until voter approval and the governor's official declaration of the result.