Wisconsin car accident law: deadlines, fault and your claim

Filing deadlines in Wisconsin#

Chapter 893 of the Wisconsin Statutes sets the statute of limitationsStatute of limitations. The law that sets the last day to file a lawsuit. After it passes, a court will usually dismiss the case, however strong it is. Glossary for crash claims. A wrongful death caused by a motor vehicle crash has a shorter deadline than other wrongful death claims, which get 3 years.

Injured children. Under Wis. Stat. § 893.16, a child who is under 18 when the claim arises can sue within 2 years after turning 18, if that ends later than the normal deadline. This kind of extension is a form of tollingTolling. Pausing the limitations clock, for example while the injured person is a child. Glossary.

Claims against local government. If a county truck, city bus or school district vehicle was involved, Wisconsin requires written notice of the circumstances of the claim, served on the local government body (and on any employee you sue) within 120 days of the crash, plus an itemized claim presented to its clerk. If the body does not act on the claim within 120 days, it counts as disallowed; once a notice of disallowance is served, you have 6 months to sue. There is one exception to the notice rule: missing the notice does not bar the claim if the government body had actual notice and the court is satisfied the delay did not prejudice it. Crashes with a vehicle a municipality owns and operates also fall under a separate statute, § 345.05, and claims against the State of Wisconsin follow their own rules, so a licensed attorney can confirm which steps apply.

How fault is shared in Wisconsin#

Wis. Stat. § 895.045 lets you recover even if you were partly to blame, as long as your negligence was not greater than the negligence of the person you are suing. Your damages are then reduced by your own percentage. A 50/50 split still lets you recover half; at 51% you recover nothing from that driver. Your fault is compared with each defendant separately, not with everyone combined.

That last step comes from the same statute: each defendant found less than 51% at fault pays only its own percentage of the total negligence. A defendant found 51% or more at fault is jointly and severally liable, so you can collect all of the damages allowed from that one defendant. Try the fault-rule explainer to compare Wisconsin with other states.

Insurance in Wisconsin#

Wisconsin drivers must carry at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries, plus $10,000 for property damage. Wisconsin is an at-fault state, so the driver who caused the crash, through their insurer, pays for the losses. It does not require personal injury protection (PIP).

• Uninsured motorist coverageUninsured motorist coverage. Coverage under your own policy that pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or too little. Glossary: required on every policy, with limits of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that 15.6% of Wisconsin drivers were uninsured in 2023, compared with 15.4% nationally. See uninsured driver accidents.
• Underinsured motorist coverage: Optional (insurers must give notice it is available); if bought, at least $50,000/$100,000.
• Medical payments coverage: Must be offered; can be declined (at least $1,000 if bought). It pays medical bills up to the limit, whoever caused the crash.

The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) answers questions and takes complaints about insurers: 800-236-8517 (complaints); 608-266-3585.

After a crash in Wisconsin#

Under Wis. Stat. § 346.70, a crash is reportable if it injures or kills anyone, causes $1,000 or more of damage to any one person's vehicle or property, or causes $200 or more of damage to government property other than a vehicle. The driver must then immediately notify the local police, the county sheriff or traffic department, or a State Patrol officer, by the quickest means of communication.

If no law enforcement agency reports the crash, the driver must send a written report to WisDOT within 10 days, using the Wisconsin Driver Report of Crash (DT4002).

To get a copy of the crash reportCrash report. The official report an officer writes after investigating a crash, with the drivers, vehicles, witnesses and the officer's notes. Glossary, search for and buy it online on WisDOT's crash report site, crashreports.wi.gov, using the report's document number or the crash date plus a Wisconsin driver license number. A report can take 10 business days or more, because the report must first reach WisDOT from the law enforcement agency. Copies are not sent by email or fax and cannot be picked up at a DMV office. Read more about police reports.

Special rules in Wisconsin#

Seat belts can reduce an award, but only so far. Under Wis. Stat. § 347.48(2m)(g), not wearing a seat belt can be used as evidence in a civil case, but it cannot reduce your recovery for the injuries it caused by more than 15%. The statute says this does not change who is found causally negligent for the crash itself.

Wrongful death: a cap on loss of companionship. Damages for loss of society and companionship are limited to $350,000 per occurrence when the person who died was an adult and $500,000 when it was a child. The cap covers only that one kind of loss, not the whole claim. See wrongful death after a crash.

Punitive damages and drunk drivers. Punitive damagesPunitive damages. Extra damages meant to punish very bad conduct, not to repay a loss. Many states cap them; Texas calls them exemplary damages. Glossary are possible only if evidence shows the defendant acted maliciously toward the injured person or in intentional disregard of their rights. They are limited to twice the compensatory damages or $200,000, whichever is greater, but the cap does not protect a driver who was under the influence of an intoxicant to a degree that made them incapable of driving safely. See drunk driver accidents.

Crashes on Wisconsin roads#

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety counted 595 crash deaths in Wisconsin in 2024, or 10.0 per 100,000 people, against a national rate of 11.5 per 100,000 people. Rural roads accounted for 57% of the state's crash deaths, and 32% were speeding-related.

Finding a lawyer in Wisconsin#

The State Bar of Wisconsin's Lawyer Referral Service (LRS) takes calls at (800) 362-9082 on weekdays, and phone referrals are free. The bar's online referral system charges $30. If you mention the referral, the first 30-minute consultation costs no more than $20.

Before you hire anyone, look the lawyer up in the State Bar's lawyer search and check the court system's lawyer discipline history. See how to check a lawyer's license and lawyer referral services.