Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorneys Blog

A Wisconsin man is facing between five and 17 years in prison after being convicted on May 8 for several charges stemming from a June 2012 car crash that killed one person and left three others injured. The 21-year-old man pleaded no contest to reduced charges of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle and two counts of causing bodily harm by negligent operation of a vehicle.

The fatal accident occurred at approximately 12:53 am on June 15, 2012 on Oak Orchard Road in Green Bay. The driver, a 17-year-old boy, and three girls, ages 17, 16 and 15, decided to go for a ride in the driver's Toyota Scion after a night of sitting around a fire. Police say the driver reached speeds of up 120 miles per hour and was driving at approximately 100 miles per hour when he ran through a stop sign, crossed the center line, hit a tree and then bounced back onto the road and landed in a ditch.

Wisconsin and other states are currently being called upon to lower their blood-alcohol concentration limits by the National Transportation Safety Board. In an effort to reduce the rate of drunk driving, the board is urging states to lower their BAC limit from the current cutoff of 0.08 to 0.05. Currently, there is approximately a one in three chance that a fatal car accident will have been caused by someone driving while intoxicated. According to a study done by the board, lowering the limit will save approximately 500 to 800 lives a year.

More than 100 countries have BAC limits at or under 0.05, and the last time the legal limit was lowered in the United States, the number of drunk driving deaths decreased. During the 1980s, the standard legal limit was 0.15, but safety groups campaigned to have the legal limit lowered. By 2004, every state in the country had a legal limit no higher than 0.08. This appears to have had a huge impact on the number of fatal car accidents involving drunk driving: In 1980, alcohol-related highway fatalities numbered over 20,000, but by 2011, the number was under 10,000.

A Wisconsin man caused a four-car crash on May 1 in Saukville after he failed to yield to oncoming traffic. Police said that all injuries were minor, although several people were transported to area hospitals. The 26-year-old driver was cited for failure to yield, which was his second citation in two days. He was cited for speeding 16 - 19 miles per hour over the limit on April 30.

According to a press release from the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office, the auto accident occurred when the driver attempted to turn left onto Highway I from the westbound lane of Highway 33. He turned in front of an eastbound vehicle. Those two cars then collided before crashing into two more vehicles.

Residents of Wisconsin may be interested to learn that although much is now known about some of the issues military service men and women face upon their return stateside, which includes unemployment and post-traumatic stress disorder, recent research has revealed another serious challenge. More and more are dying behind the wheel of a car or motorcycle in the months following their return to the United States.

Soldiers returning from the military theater have a 75 percent higher chance of being involved in a fatal auto accident than civilians. Professionals cite several explanations for this, all combat-related. Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been trained to drive aggressively in order to survive. Dodging around slow cars that are potential traps for military vehicles and driving without seatbelts, which may hinder escape from a vehicle hit are aspects of this training by military ordinance .

Following months of research, the Department of Transportation has issued new voluntary guidelines that automobile manufacturers could implement to limit the amount of time required to use on-board devices in vehicles. Wisconsin drivers who take their eyes off the road for more than two seconds multiply their chances of getting into a car accident, and changing the way equipment in cars work could help reduce distracted driving accidents.

The guidelines from the DOT address devices that assist drivers, which are usually secondary devices, and those that are likely to distract them from the road. When using secondary devices, individuals should only take their hands from the steering wheel or eyes off the road for two seconds. Instead of having to spend several seconds looking at their dashboard, drivers should be able to glance at electronic devices. Devices that include DVD players as well as access the Internet can keep a driver's attention from the road, so the DOT stated they should only be allowed for use when the vehicle is in park or not moving.

A woman who is accused of running a stop sign has been sued by the victims in the resulting crash. Like Wisconsin, Illinois law provides for victims to recover damages in certain cases when a driver has shown negligence in causing a car accident. Both states are considered "liability" states in which victims can file lawsuits against other drivers to recover damages from injuries.

The car crash in question took place when the victim was driving on Illinois Route 13 in October with a male passenger and her three children. She claims that as she crossed the intersection of South 28th Street, the driver ran a stop sign and crashed into her car. All of the car's occupants, including herself, a male passenger and her three minor children, were injured in the crash. The lawsuit claims that the driver was negligent in causing this accident and asks for $250,000 in payment of medical bills, lost wages and other costs.

A group of teenagers is luckily uninjured after crashing their vehicles at high speed into a marsh. The auto accident took place on Arboretum Drive at the University of Wisconsin's Arboretum. Two 16-year-old drivers were involved as well as a 17-year-old passenger.

The university's police say that on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 9, the Jeep Liberty and Chevrolet truck were traveling at speeds up to 80 miles per hour when they became airborne and landed in the marsh. After the crash, a witness saw one of the teens throw a bottle into the water, which was later recovered and found to contain alcohol. However, all of the teens passed a Breathalyzer test. They all managed to escape injury and were released to their parents.

After stealing a big rig truck and crashing it into multiple vehicles, a 19-year-old male provided an explanation to law enforcement officials that may strike many Wisconsin residents as unusual: His actions were due to zombies chasing him. The young man had been traveling with a truck driver from Tennessee to California. The teen reportedly stole the truck near Temecula when the truck driver stepped out of the vehicle for an inspection and then took off down the freeway.

The first collision occurred when the big rig slammed into a Toyota Tacoma, and this collision caused the Tacoma to hit a Mercedes and a 4Runner. The teen traveled further down the road in the semi-truck, and he caused a truck accident with a Honda and a Ford. He later told law enforcement officials that zombies were hanging onto the truck, and he was driving erratically so that they would fall off the truck. Hallucinogenic drugs may have been involved in this incident. Charges against the teen include receiving stolen property and taking a vehicle without consent.

An accident in Waushara County, Wisconsin involving an SUV rollover led to five injuries and one death. The auto accident involved a single vehicle headed south on I-39 in Coloma Township. A lieutenant with the Waushara County Sheriff's Department said the rollover occurred after the vehicle left the highway for unknown reasons. All six passengers were ejected from the 2001 Lincoln SUV by the force of the impact.

A 23-year-old occupant was killed directly by the crash, and others were listed in serious condition. Emergency responders reported the smell of alcohol during rescue efforts, and investigators think that none of the occupants were using seat belts. The driver of the SUV was reportedly returning from a trip to Madison, Wisconsin, according to the lieutenant.