The driver of an S.U.V. that slammed into a Los Angeles bus on Tuesday evening, killing two people and injuring five others, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, prosecutors said Thursday.

The driver, Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, was "impaired by drugs" when she blasted through a red light into opposing traffic and broadsided the bus, the district attorney of Los Angeles County, Nathan J. Hochman, said. She was driving a Ford Expedition "well beyond the speed limit" in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. The collision killed two passengers, Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Another five passengers were injured, two critically.

Ms. Rios faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Her bail has been set at $4.1 million. The crash attracted news helicopters, one of which plummeted to the ground and burst into flames, killing its pilot, a reporter, and a pedestrian. Mr. Hochman said prosecutors would "certainly consider" whether there was a tie-in with the case against Ms. Rios once the federal investigation was complete.