Any driver who willfully flees or attempts to evade law enforcement, during which a person is seriously injured, is subject to:
- Imprisonment in a state prison for up to seven years. ✓
- A fine of less than $1,000.
- Attending an anger-management class.
Answer: A. Imprisonment in a state prison for up to seven years.
Fleeing or trying to evade law enforcement and seriously injuring someone during that pursuit can bring imprisonment in a state prison for up to seven years.
Why this is the answer
The handbook separates fleeing from the penalty for hurting someone while doing it. Simply fleeing or attempting to evade officers is a misdemeanor with up to a year in county jail. But when the person is convicted of causing serious bodily injury during a law enforcement pursuit, the handbook says the punishment can be imprisonment in a state prison for up to seven years, or a county jail term of a year or less. The serious injury is what raises the exposure to state prison time.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. A fine of less than $1,000. — A fine of less than $1,000 is not what the handbook lists for this conduct; it describes jail or state prison time instead.
- C. Attending an anger-management class. — The handbook says nothing about an anger-management class for evading officers and seriously injuring someone.
Remember it
Think of the injury as the switch: fleeing alone stays a misdemeanor, but serious bodily injury during the pursuit opens the door to state prison.