Hit-and-run laws and what to do in Wisconsin

Getting hit by a driver who takes off is its own kind of awful. You're dealing with a wrecked car or an injury, and the one person responsible for it is gone. Wisconsin treats leaving the scene as a serious crime, and the state also gives you a way to get paid even when the other driver is never found. Here's what the law actually says and the steps that protect your claim.

What Wisconsin law requires at the scene

The duty-to-stop rule is Wis. Stat. § 346.67. If you're in a crash, you have to reasonably investigate what you hit, and if you know or have reason to know it caused injury, death, or damage to a vehicle that's driven or attended by a person, you must stop as close to the scene as possible and stay there.¹ Before you can leave, you have to give your name, address, and the vehicle's registration number to the others involved, show your driver's license if they ask for it and it's available, and render reasonable assistance to anyone hurt, including arranging to get them to a hospital if treatment is obviously needed.¹

Two things catch people off guard. The duty isn't limited to public highways. It also covers parking lots and other premises held out to the public, employer parking areas, and the lots of apartment buildings with four or more units.¹ And under § 346.67(3), a prosecutor doesn't have to prove you actually knew you struck a person or an occupied vehicle, so "I didn't realize I hit anything" is a weak position in Wisconsin.¹

Hitting a parked car or roadside property carries its own rules. Strike an unattended vehicle and § 346.68 says you must stop and either find the owner or leave a written note in a conspicuous spot with your name, address, and what happened.² Damage a fence, mailbox, sign, or other property along the road and § 346.69 requires you to locate the owner, hand over your name, address, and registration number, show your license on request, and file a report.³ Driving off after clipping a parked car in a lot is still a hit-and-run.

When you have to report the crash

Separate from the duty to stop, § 346.70 requires an immediate report, by the quickest means available, to local police, the sheriff, or the county or municipal traffic department. That report is mandatory whenever the crash causes injury or death, damages government property to an apparent extent of $200 or more, or causes at least $1,000 in total damage to the property of any one person.⁴ Most crashes worth worrying about clear that $1,000 line, so call it in. WisDOT is the agency that later issues the official crash report,⁵ and our Wisconsin crash report guide covers getting a copy.

What fleeing costs the driver who runs

The penalty scale in § 346.74(5) tracks how badly someone got hurt. Leaving the scene of a property-damage-only crash draws a fine of $300 to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both.⁶ If the crash caused injury short of great bodily harm, the driver faces a fine up to $10,000, up to nine months, or both.⁶

Past that it turns into a felony. Fleeing a crash that caused great bodily harm is a Class E felony, punishable by as much as $50,000 and 15 years.⁶⁷ Fleeing a crash that killed someone is a Class D felony, carrying up to $100,000 and 25 years.⁶⁷ "Great bodily harm" isn't a loose phrase here; it means injury that creates a substantial risk of death, or causes serious permanent disfigurement, or a permanent or protracted loss or impairment of any body part or organ.⁸

There's a license hit on top of the criminal case. A conviction for fleeing a crash that involved great bodily harm revokes the driver's operating privilege for two years, and a conviction where someone died revokes it for five, under § 343.31(3).⁹ Wisconsin punishes running harder than it punishes many of the underlying crashes, which is worth sitting with if you're ever the one deciding whether to stay.

If the other driver got away, you can still recover

This is the part that matters most when you're the victim. Wisconsin makes every auto liability policy carry uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, and you can't waive it below 25/50, meaning $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury.¹⁰ UM is what pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance, and the statute's definition of an uninsured motor vehicle expressly includes an unidentified vehicle involved in a hit-and-run with you.¹⁰ So if a car hit you and drove off, your own UM coverage generally steps into the shoes of the missing driver's liability insurance.

There's an important line between two situations. When the fleeing car physically hit you or your vehicle, § 632.32(2)(g)3 treats it as a standard hit-and-run UM claim.¹⁰ When there was no contact at all, a "phantom" car that ran you off the road but never touched you, § 632.32(2)(g)2 adds three requirements: the facts have to be corroborated by competent evidence from someone other than you, you have to report the crash to a police, peace, or judicial officer or the DOT within 72 hours, and you have to file a sworn statement with your insurer within 30 days.¹⁰ Blow those windows on a no-contact claim and the coverage can vanish, so treat 72 hours and 30 days as hard deadlines.

For reference, Wisconsin's minimum liability limits are 25/50/10, that is $25,000 per person, $50,000 per crash, and $10,000 in property damage, under § 344.33(2).¹¹ Those thin minimums are a big reason UM coverage, and underinsured coverage if you bought it, carry so much weight when the person who hit you turns out to have little or nothing.

The deadlines that decide your claim

A UM claim doesn't pause your regular injury deadline, so track both. In Wisconsin you generally have three years from the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit under § 893.54(1m), and two years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim.¹² Property damage from a motor vehicle crash runs on its own three-year clock under § 893.52(2).¹³

One more Wisconsin rule shapes what you actually collect. The state uses modified comparative negligence with a 51 percent bar under § 895.045(1): you can recover as long as you aren't more at fault than the party you're suing, but your award shrinks by your share of the blame.¹⁴ In a hit-and-run that usually cuts in your favor, since the driver who fled carries the fault, but don't hand the insurer easy arguments that you contributed.

If your car took the damage and fault is clear, the drop in its resale value after repairs is its own separate claim; see our Wisconsin diminished value guide. And when the injuries or the insurance fight get serious, it's worth talking to a lawyer who handles these cases. You can find a Wisconsin attorney here.

The short version: stay at the scene, report any injury or anything over $1,000 right away, and if the other driver runs, move fast on the UM steps so a missing defendant doesn't turn into a missing recovery.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

Wisconsin Statute § 346.67, duty upon striking person or attended or occupied vehicle. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/346.67
Wisconsin Statute § 346.68, duty upon striking unattended vehicle. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/346.68
Wisconsin Statute § 346.69, duty upon striking property on or along a highway. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/346.69
Wisconsin Statute § 346.70, duty to report accident. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/346.70
Wisconsin DOT Crash Reports Portal. https://crashreports.wi.gov/
Wisconsin Statute § 346.74(5), penalty for violating sections 346.67 to 346.73. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/346.74
Wisconsin Statute § 939.50(3), penalties for felonies. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/939.50
Wisconsin Statute § 939.22(14), definition of great bodily harm. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/939.22
Wisconsin Statute § 343.31(3), revocation of operating privilege after certain convictions. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/343.31
Wisconsin Statute § 632.32, motor vehicle insurance policy provisions (uninsured motorist, phantom and hit-and-run vehicles). https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/632.32
Wisconsin Statute § 344.33(2), minimum motor vehicle liability limits. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/344/iii/33
Wisconsin Statute § 893.54, statute of limitations for injury to the person and wrongful death. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/893/v/54
Wisconsin Statute § 893.52, statute of limitations for damage to property. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/893/v/52
Wisconsin Statute § 895.045(1), contributory negligence. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/895/i/045

Hit-and-Run Laws and What to Do in Wisconsin