What is the test for establishing approximate cause in a motor vehicle accident?

" '[P]roximate cause is clearly established where the act is directly connected with the resulting injury, with no intervening force operating.' " (People v. Schmies (1996) 44

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Cal.App.4th 38, 48-49.) An intervening superseding cause can relieve a defendant of criminal liability if the act "break[s] the chain of causation" (People v. Wattier (1996) 51 Cal.App.4th 948, 953) and the defendant's act is no longer a substantial factor in producing the injury. "[A] 'cause of the [death of the decedent] is an act or omission that sets in motion a chain of events that produces as a direct, natural and probable consequence of the act or omission the [death] and without which the [death] would not occur.' " (People v. Schmies, supra, at p. 48.)