Milwaukee Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The drivers of two vehicles involved in a serious head-on car accident Thursday were taken to the hospital with serious-to-critical injuries. The car accident occurred Thursday when a woman driving a Dodge Avenger began to travel south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 794, according to the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department. As a result, the 30-year-old woman's vehicle crashed into an Acura driven by a 55-year old man from Hartland. The crash occurred on Hoan Bridge around 1:30 a.m.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff and Fire Departments responded to the accident scene. Once pulled from the wreckage, both drivers were taken to a local hospital for treatment of serious injuries sustained in the wreck.

An Illinois motorcyclist lost his life after colliding with a car Friday afternoon. The motorcycle accident occurred at the intersection of South Highway 140 and East Highway 67 in Clinton Township, Wis. According to the Rock County Sheriff's Office, the crash occurred just before 5 p.m. on Friday when a 2004 Ford Taurus accelerated after stopping at a stop sign facing Hwy. 67. While accelerating through the intersection, the Taurus struck a 2008 Yamaha V-Star motorcycle traveling northbound on Hwy. 140.

The motorcycle struck the front passenger side of the car as he traveled through the intersection. The driver of the motorcycle was a 43-year-old man, of Belvidere, Ill., who upon impact left 378 feet of skid marks on the road before laying the bike down on the road and skidding an additional 20 feet before coming to a stop. The motorcyclist attempted to stop his bike by slamming on the brakes but was not able to stop in time to avoid the crash.

A Wisconsin man who was driving under the influence of alcohol is in critical condition following a rollover car accident over the weekend. According to news reports, 24-year-old Joshua Restivo, of Brodhead, Wis., was critically injured after a crash on West State Highway 213 at West Plymouth Church Road in the Town of Plymouth.

The rollover crash occurred around 10:20 p.m. when Restivo failed to negotiate a curve at Plymouth Church Road while driving westbound and entered the north ditch line on the road. Once in the ditch, the 1998 Chevy Cavalier rolled several times which caused Restivo to be ejected from the vehicle. The car came to a stop several hundred feet west of where the vehicle left the road.

A Wisconsin man suspected of fatally shooting a Janesville man following a motorcycle accident was charged with felony reckless homicide last week. James Humphrey, 44, of Janesville, Wis., appeared in Rock County Court on Wednesday for an arraignment. A mute Humphrey stood in the courtroom and the presiding judge entered a not guilty plea for him.

Humphrey was accused of shooting Sam Aegerter, 30, of Janesville, after a confrontation on July 4th, 2010. According to police reports, Humphrey chased after Aegerter's Jeep after a slight accident at an intersection. When the Jeep finally stopped, words were exchanged between the drivers. After some time, the Jeep decided to leave the scene and the motorcycle chased after the Jeep once more and Humphrey shot at the vehicle. While the gun fire ensued, Aegerter was shot and killed in the chase.

The District 4 Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently cleared the way for a wrongful death lawsuit after a fatal car accident in Wisconsin. The court overturned a previous ruling which now will allow a Wisconsin man to continue to file a wrongful death suit against his former girlfriend's insurer for the death of their unborn child. The child was stillborn after his girlfriend was injured in a car accident. Shannon Tesar, the father of the unborn child killed in the crash, filed suit against the other driver involved in the crash and is also seeking damages as a result of emotional-distress caused by the insurance company.

In the case of Tesar v. Anderson and American Family Mutual Insurance Company, Tesar is suing Brett Anderson, the driver of the vehicle which struck his girlfriend, for the death of his unborn child. The suit stems from a car accident which occurred on Feb. 13, 2003.

Driver's education programs around the country, including schools in Wisconsin, are attempting to integrate educational sessions about the dangers of texting while behind the wheel to reduce the number of texting-related car accidents. But teaching the "cell" generation, who was practically given a cell phone at birth, is no easy sell.

A number of alarming statistics have shown that texting behind the wheel has become a large problem in the US. According to USA Today, 9 in 10 teenage drivers have engaged in distracted-driving behaviors such as texting on a cell phone. Eighty percent of all accidents are the result of distracted drivers and texting raises the likelihood of a car accident by 23 times. Further, combine texting and inexperienced driving skills, you have a situation that almost provokes a car accident to occur.

A new survey has revealed that Wisconsinites are using their seat belts more than ever before. According to the Wisconsin State Patrol's Bureau of Transportation Safety, 79 percent (4 out of five motorists and passengers) currently use their safety belts while driving. This is a six percent increase from last year's survey numbers. Authorities believe this new trend will help reduce the number of fatal injuries sustained in car accidents in the state.

Despite this increased improvement in safety belt usage, state officials and authorities are not yet ready to celebrate these findings. While this year's numbers are the highest ever in the state, Wisconsin still lags behind its neighboring states and the national average. The current national average of seat belt use is 84 percent.

A 17-year-old Milwaukee boy was arrested after causing a car accident involving Milwaukee police while driving a stolen vehicle. The boy is being accused of stealing a motor vehicle and hitting a Milwaukee police officer paroling the area on a bicycle near the 2800 block of North 38th Street around 10:30 p.m. last Thursday.

Just prior to the crash, the officer and his partner on bicycle patrol decided to approach a vehicle that had been continuously sounding its horn. As officers approached the vehicle, the boy seemed extremely nervous. As officers attempted to speak with the boy, he drove away, striking one of the officers and dragging him several feet with his vehicle. As the car drove away, the other officer fired a shot at the vehicle attempting to disable the vehicle. The driver was not hit by the shots.