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Teens and Distracted Driving: 25 Percent Admit to Texting While Driving
In Wisconsin, the use of a mobile device while driving is considered a primary offense. This mean a driver can be ticketed for texting while driving or for using a cell phone, even if hands-free, while driving without first being pulled over for another type of traffic violation.
There are several types of distracted driving that put people on the road in danger, including:
- Eating and drinking;
- Reading maps;
- Grooming; and
- Using a navigation system.
However, the frequency of mobile device use can be directly linked to increased distracted driving accidents. According to Distraction.gov, as of this time last year, over 153 billion text messages were sent each month and a high number of those were sent while driving. Additional statistics from the website show that a quarter of teens respond to texts once or more every time they drive.
Statute of Limitation: A Time Limit on Your Case
Filing a lawsuit quickly after a traffic accident occurs is important because the sooner the process starts, the sooner the victim can be compensated for his or her medical bills and other injuries. However, there is another important reason to file a lawsuit quickly: the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is a time limit that the law puts on filing a case. Wait too long and a victim's opportunity to recover damages for the harm that he or she suffered can vanish. While this may seem like a harsh rule, there are good reasons for it to be in place, and it is important for people injured in accidents to understand these statutes.
The Statute of Limitations in Wisconsin
Statutes of limitations are time limits that vary depending on the type of case. A suit for breach of contract may have a different time limit that a suit for medical malpractice. Under Wisconsin law the statute of limitations in a personal injury case, the type of case arising from a traffic accident, is three years. This means that people have three years from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit over it.
Types of Car Accident Claims
Lawsuits arising out of car accident claims are about assigning fault to the person who caused them, so that they can compensate the victims of the accident that they caused. When most people think of who caused an accident, they assume it must have been one of the drivers, but that is only one of the possibilities. With over 100,000 crashes in Wisconsin every year, there are also other potential causes. For instance, some accidents are the result of poor design or manufacturing on behalf of car makers. Other accidents can be caused by poor design of the roads themselves. Each of these causes requires its own legal theory during the lawsuit.
Negligence
The legal theory of negligence is the most common of the three legal theories. It applies in cases where the accident was caused by the carelessness of one of the drivers. Prevailing in a lawsuit based on negligence requires the plaintiff to prove four things. First, the plaintiff must show that the other driver had a duty to use due care to avoid harming other drivers, which is almost always true. Second, the plaintiff must show that the defendant breached that duty in some way. These breaches are examples of careless driving, such as speeding or driving while distracted. Third, the plaintiff must show that the accident was caused by the defendant's carelessness. Fourth, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the injuries that they are suing for resulted from the accident. If the injured driver can show those four things, then they can likely prevail on a negligence claim.
What to Do If You Spot a Drunk Driver on the Road
While there are many dangers present on the road, one of the biggest is the presence of drunk drivers. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over 10,000 people were killed by drunk drivers in 2012, which makes them responsible for almost one in every three traffic fatalities. While other drivers cannot keep people from drinking and driving, they can keep themselves safer. It is important for everyone on the road to know how to identify a drunk driver, as well as what to do when they encounter one to avoid a traffic accident.
Identifying a Drunk Driver
Identifying a drunk driver is largely a matter of spotting erratic driving, especially when it occurs late at night. However, there are certain poor driving behaviors that drunk drivers are more likely to engage in as a result of alcohol's specific effects on the body. One of the most common of these sorts of behaviors is making turns that are overly wide. Alcohol affects people's ability to properly judge distances, so they may end up taking up more space when they turn. Similarly, this inability to judge distances, combined with poor reaction time, may result in a drunk driver braking erratically.
Types of Damages in Personal Injury Lawsuits
Many people think that a personal injury lawsuit is a success when the court decides that the defendant is liable for the accident, but that is not necessarily the case. After a finding of liability, the trial moves on to the damages phase, where the court determines how much money the defendant owes the plaintiff. In many ways, this part of the trial is most important. After all, winning the case only to have the damages fall short of covering the injury suffered would not really be a win at all. Fortunately, Wisconsin law makes a wide variety of damages available to injured plaintiffs. Plaintiffs may recover for their economic harms, for non-economic harms, and even punitive damages in some cases.
Economic Harms
Economic harms are the most straightforward type of damages. They are a subset of compensatory damages. The idea behind compensatory damages is to “make the plaintiff whole” again. This means that in an ideal world the plaintiff would be so well compensated for their injuries that they would be indifferent to the fact that the injury happened at all. In order to accomplish that, the law allows people to recover for a broad amount of economic harm.
Wisconsin Traffic Deaths Hit Historic Low
Wisconsin state officials are celebrating the continued trend of declining traffic accident deaths on Wisconsin roads. In fact, the last time Wisconsin streets saw as few deaths as they did in 2014 the year was 1943. That statistic is particularly impressive given how many fewer drivers there were on the road in the 1940s. In fact, some estimates put the number of drivers in the 1940s as just 10 percent of what they are today. Although a variety of factors may play a role in this trend of decreasing traffic fatalities, much of it appears to be attributable to drivers’ own increased caution and safe driving decisions.
The Statistics
Wisconsin traffic fatalities have been falling over the past two years. 2013 saw only 517 fatalities, and 2014 figures were even lower, registering just 482. In fact, this drop in traffic deaths is part of a larger trend. Other Midwestern states have been seeing similarly declining fatality rates. Traffic safety officials have put forward numerous different explanations for these positive numbers.
Wisconsin Frozen Road Law Goes into Effect
Winter driving brings a variety of hazards like slippery roads and decreased visibility. However, there is another less well-known danger that drivers should also be careful of, frozen road laws. Frozen road laws allow larger trucks to drive on certain roads that they would not ordinarily be licensed on. While this law allows trucks to perform road maintenance and keep drivers safe, motorists across the state should still be careful now that Wisconsin's frozen road law has gone into effect over all of its zones. Having larger trucks sharing the road can result in truck accidents, if drivers are not aware of how to protect themselves.
What the Frozen Road Law Is
The frozen road law is a law designed to make road maintenance easier. It permits trucks carrying certain wood products, salt, and sand for winter road work to ride on roads that they would ordinarily be too heavy for. The law permits trucks licensed up to 80,000 pounds to carry up to 98,000 pounds with no special permits. However, the law does not permit the trucks to use all roads. Most notably, the trucks are still not allowed on interstate highways if they were not before.
Collisions with Uninsured Motorists
Although no one likes paying their car insurance bills every month, that insurance coverage can end up being vital if a driver is involved in an accident. However, carrying car insurance is more than just a good idea. It is also required by the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles. People who are at fault in a car accident and uninsured can see their licenses suspended if they do not find a way to pay the damages. However, despite this incentive, there are still plenty of people on the road who do not carry car insurance, and drivers should be aware of their options in case they end up involved in a car accident with an uninsured motorist, such as uninsured motorist (UM) insurance, looking for other potential defendants, and pushing forward with a lawsuit anyway.
Wrongful Death Lawsuits in Wisconsin
The law attempts to provide people with a full set of tools for responding to harms inflicted by others. In some particularly tragic cases, this includes responding to deaths caused by other people's carelessness. In those cases, Wisconsin law allows either a personal representative of the deceased or a close surviving family member, such as a parent, spouse, or child, to bring a wrongful death action on behalf of the decedent. While this type of lawsuit can never fully compensate someone for the death of a close relative, it can provide closure and ensure that the people responsible for the death are held accountable.
What Is Wrongful Death?
Wrongful death is a civil legal claim that Wisconsin law allows people to bring when the death results from another person's “wrongful act, neglect, or default.” This means that the law allows a representative of the deceased to seek damages when the person's death was caused by negligence. Examples of times where this may apply would be fatalities from car accidents, injuries suffered on another person's property, or as a result of a defective product.
Choosing a Car Accident Attorney
Car accidents can be confusing events, and people are often unsure of what to do afterward. One of the most challenging parts is selecting the right attorney to handle your car accident case. Yet, insurance industry statistics suggest that people will be involved in between three and four car accidents in the course of their lives. This means that it is important for people to understand how to choose the right car accident attorney for them since a good attorney can make all the difference. The two steps to selecting an attorney are to do research on attorneys beforehand, and to ask questions during the initial consultation before committing to anything.
Things to Research
The first step in finding a good attorney to handle a car accident claim is doing research beforehand. One of the best ways to do research is by talking to friends who have had to go through car accident claims and seeing if they had good experiences with any of their attorneys. Absent that, the internet is a powerful tool for finding out more about attorneys as potential representatives.
