Is it considered manslaughter when an intoxicated driver kills a passenger?

They usually don't prosecute dead people, but you can sue civilly.

Well, you file a lawsuit against the estate of the deceased driver, and then go to Probate Court to have a representative appointed for the estate to accept the service of process. Have the representative give the suit papers to the insurance company of the deceased driver. You will have to prove that the dead drunk was dead wrong, which will be difficult since neither he nor the passenger can testify. Now, if the dead drunk dead driver was drunk when the drunk passenger got into the car, that could be considered as "assumption of the risk" or perhaps "comparative fault" by the passenger. That could result in the case being lost.

Since the driver died, there will not be any criminal charges brought. But, the estate or relatives of the passenger can sue the estate of the driver and its insurance company for negligence and wrongful death. Get a good personal injury lawyer immediately and make a claim against the driver's estate and insurance policy.

There are two separate things going on. The passengers death is probably blunt force trauma from a car accident. If the driver had not died, he or she could have been charged with manslaughter. But since the driver is dead, no charges are filed.

Nothing happens criminally. The bad guy is dead. Civilly you can sue the bad guys estate. If he has insurance or has an estate of any size you might expect to recover money damages. I don't know what you mean about the rug comments.

Well, first of all, there are no criminal charges to be brought because the suspect of the crime is dead. When you say "reported" I do not know what you mean. A pathologist or coroner will likely issue a death certificate with a cause of death. However, crimes, such as manslaughter, as well as who is at fault, are irrelevant to the cause of death, and will not likely be discussed on the death certificate. Judges do not normally get involved in what is listed as the cause of death. Medical personnel will likely do toxicology tests on the driver and determine whether alcohol was in his/her system. This may or may not be reported in official records of the accident and deaths. The estate of the deceased passenger can sue the estate of the driver. If he had liability insurance, which he should have had, the insurance will pay whatever damages the estate can prove. In pursuing this suit, the passenger's estate would have a right to all medical records including any toxicology reports. I doubt that anything will be swept under the rug.

You need to ask the question under the criminal forum. Civilly, the estate of the driver is responsible for damages.

The passengers estate and immediate relatives might have a dram shop cause of action.