But who got intoxicated in the first place? Who didn't take reasonable steps to avoid getting behind the wheel? I am not a lawyer, but I believe, firstly, this

But who got intoxicated in the first place? Who didn't take reasonable steps to avoid getting behind the wheel? I am not a lawyer, but I believe, firstly, this is largely orthogonal to the original discussion, and secondly, my understanding behind why it is considered manslaughter is because of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mens_rea