Is a defendant liable for not wearing a seatbelt and driving on the wrong side of the freeway a concurrent cause of death?

Second, defendant argues the court erred when it prohibited him from presenting evidence that the decedent was not wearing a seat belt, and that the driver of decedent's vehicle was under the influence of alcohol. The court did not err. "'"There may be more than one proximate cause of the death. When the conduct of two or more persons contributes concurrently as the proximate cause of the death, the conduct of each is a proximate cause of the death if that conduct was also a substantial factor contributing to the result. A cause is concurrent if it was operative at the time of the death and acted with another cause to produce the death."'" (People v. Sanchez (2001) 26 Cal.4th 834, 847.) Assuming the driver of the decedent's vehicle was impaired and the decedent was not wearing a seat belt, these facts would, at most, establish a concurrent cause of the death. Defendant's driving on the wrong side of the freeway while under the influence of alcohol was also a substantial factor in causing the death. "Facts attacking legal causation are only relevant if the defendant's act was not a substantial factor in producing the harm or injurious situation. [Citation.] The defendant is liable for a crime irrespective of other concurrent causes contributing to the harm . . . ." (People v. Wattier

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(1996) 51 Cal.App.4th 948, 953.) "In criminal prosecutions, the contributing negligence of the victim or a third party does not relieve the criminal actor of liability, unless the victim's or third party's conduct was the sole or superseding cause of the death." (People v. Autry (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 351, 360.) Here, the victim's and third party's conduct were clearly not the sole or superseding causes of death.