Wisconsin’s Hit and Run Statute

Question: What is Wisconsin’s Hit and Run Statute?

Answer: So in Wisconsin there are various hit and run statutes and levels. Basically, in Wisconsin, a driver has a duty to stop and investigate if an accident occurs. If that accident includes an attended vehicle—so a vehicle with a person in it or nearby it—or if a person is struck, there are very specific rules that the person must stop, must give aid or try to obtain aid if that is needed, and must exchange name, address, registration number, must display their license upon request. So there’s some very specific information there. And if you fail to do any of that, then that is a hit and run.

There’s also other levels. There’s the duty upon striking an unattended vehicle to leave information conspicuously available so the person can contact if they need to. And then there’s also if you strike property then, again, there must be an attempt to notify the person whose property you have struck about the accident and about your information.

And finally, there is also an owners’ liability issue. So if someone else is driving a vehicle that you own and you become aware that they were involved in an accident, in a hit and run accident, then you need to report information about that, anything that you do know about it, in order to avoid being held responsible to some degree as the owner of that vehicle. So those are the basic groups, I would say, of hit and run issues in Wisconsin.