A woman leaves home, drives about 75 mph in a school zone, cannot stop, her car collides with another car, and the car hits a stopped school bus; the other driver dies later that night. What crime did she commit?

• A. Reckless driving
• B. Vehicular homicide
• C. Gross vehicular manslaughter - felony
• D. Second-degree murder

Answer: (C)

This item focuses on how liability for deaths in a vehicle crash is graded by level of recklessness and intent. Driving 75 mph in a school zone shows extreme disregard for safety rules that are meant to protect children and pedestrians. That level of speed, especially in a zone designed to slow traffic, constitutes reckless conduct. The fact that the driver cannot stop exacerbates this, indicating a clear loss of control and a high risk of harm that was knowingly created.

Because someone dies as a result of this reckless crash, the behavior is treated as more than ordinary negligence but not as intent to kill. That combination—extreme recklessness causing death—fits gross vehicular manslaughter (a felony) in many jurisdictions. Vehicular homicide usually covers less egregious negligence, while second-degree murder requires malice or an intent to kill, which isn’t shown here. So the death arising from this grossly reckless driving aligns with gross vehicular manslaughter.