Car Accidents in Milwaukee: 2023 Data and How a Claim Works

NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System records every fatal crash on public roads. For 2023, crashes coded to Milwaukee account for 80 deaths in 71 fatal crashes, far ahead of any other Wisconsin city. The ratio of deaths to crashes, 80 to 71, is among the highest in the top 25, reflecting multi-fatality crashes, and Milwaukee has had one of the worst reckless driving problems of any American city in recent years.

The pattern is intersections. Thirty-seven of 71 fatal crashes, 52 percent, were intersection-related, the highest share in the national top 25, narrowly ahead of Tucson and Philadelphia. Angle collisions, 26, accounted for more than a third of all fatal crashes, the highest angle share of any city in the data, consistent with red-light running on the wide north side arterials. Head-on crashes, 4, were rare.

Darkness was a factor in 43 of 71 fatal crashes, 61 percent. Twenty-two involved a pedestrian or cyclist, 31 percent. Twenty-four were on a weekend. FARS counts fatal crashes only; injury crashes in Milwaukee County, reported through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, number in the tens of thousands per year.

FARS roadway coding identifies where fatal crashes concentrated in 2023. The north side arterials lead.

• Fond du Lac Avenue (SR-145): 5 fatal crashes on the diagonal arterial through the north side.
• Capitol Drive (SR-190): 5 fatal crashes on the east-west arterial.
• I-94: 3 fatal crashes.
• North 35th Street: 5 fatal crashes across two codings of the same street.
• South 16th Street: 2 fatal crashes on the south side.

An angle collision at a Milwaukee intersection is a dispute about who ran the red, and in a city where more than half of fatal crashes are at intersections and red-light running is a recognized problem, that dispute is the typical claim. The evidence is the city's signal timing records, camera footage from businesses and MCTS buses, dash cameras and witnesses, and the footage is overwritten within days.

Wisconsin's modified comparative negligence rule uses a 51 percent bar: a driver found 50 percent at fault recovers half, one found 51 percent at fault recovers nothing. In a two-car intersection crash with no independent evidence, insurers often assign each driver 50 percent, which halves both claims. Wisconsin also applies a specific rule in multi-defendant cases: a defendant found 51 percent or more at fault is jointly liable for the whole award, which matters when one driver is uninsured.

Reckless driving and stolen vehicles are a particular Milwaukee problem, and a crash caused by a stolen car or a driver fleeing police often leaves no liability insurer to claim against. The injured person's own uninsured motorist coverage, which Wisconsin requires on every policy at the minimum limits, is then the source, and the coverage must be claimed under the policy's notice rules.

Suppose you were driving east on Capitol Drive at night and entered an intersection on a green when a driver heading south ran the red at high speed and struck your car on the driver's side. You suffered a fractured pelvis and a ruptured spleen, with $115,000 in medical bills and five months off work. The other driver was in a vehicle reported stolen that morning and fled on foot.

With no liability insurer to claim against, the claim ran under your own uninsured motorist coverage, which Wisconsin requires at $25,000 per person on every policy and which you had raised to $100,000. The police report, the stolen vehicle report and an MCTS bus camera showing the red-light run established that you were not at fault, which mattered because your own insurer, now adjusting a claim against itself, would otherwise have argued a percentage.

The $100,000 limit was less than the full value of the claim, and the balance was uncollectible. A claim against the vehicle's owner was considered but Wisconsin does not generally hold an owner liable for a thief's driving. Had the intersection's signal been malfunctioning, a claim against the City of Milwaukee would have required a notice of claim within 120 days and would have been capped at $50,000. The claim settled at month twelve, inside the three-year deadline. All figures are hypothetical.

Milwaukee's crashes are intersection crashes, often involving reckless or uninsured drivers, and the evidence and coverage questions have to be answered in the first days.

• Get the Milwaukee Police Department or Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office report number; Wisconsin crash reports are available through the Department of Transportation's online system.
• Identify every camera facing the intersection, including businesses and MCTS buses, and have preservation letters sent within days.
• Photograph the signal heads, the lane markings and the position of both vehicles before they are moved.
• Get witness names; angle collisions turn on who had the green.
• If the other driver fled or the vehicle was stolen, report it immediately and open an uninsured motorist claim with your own insurer the same day.
• Confirm your uninsured and underinsured motorist limits in writing; Wisconsin requires the minimum, and higher limits are the real protection in Milwaukee.
• If a city street, signal or MCTS vehicle is involved, file a notice of claim within 120 days.

Wisconsin is a fault state, not no-fault. The at-fault driver's liability insurer is the primary source of recovery, and medical payments coverage on your own policy, if purchased, pays early bills. Wisconsin's minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $10,000 for property damage, and uninsured motorist coverage at $25,000 per person is mandatory on every policy; underinsured coverage must be offered and can be rejected.

Fault follows modified comparative negligence with a 51 percent bar: you recover if you were 50 percent or less at fault, reduced by your share. The injury deadline is three years from the crash. Claims against the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, MCTS or the State of Wisconsin require a notice of claim within 120 days, and damages against government entities are capped at $50,000 per person, with a higher cap for claims involving government vehicles.

Crashes in Wauwatosa, West Allis, Greenfield and the rest of the county follow the same Wisconsin rules. Workers' compensation for a crash on the job runs through the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development with a two-year claim deadline.

A Milwaukee claim is usually an intersection claim won on camera evidence that disappears in days, in a city where the at-fault driver may be uninsured, fleeing or in a stolen car, which makes the injured person's own uninsured motorist coverage the real source and the fault evidence the thing that protects it. The questions to answer early are what the cameras and signal records show, what coverage exists on your own policy, and whether a public entity is involved on the 120-day clock. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Wisconsin, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say what the claim is worth. If you were hurt in a crash in Milwaukee or Milwaukee County, you can request a free claim review.

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• Airbag Did Not Deploy in a Crash: Can You Sue, and Whom?
• At Fault in a Car Accident? Comparative Negligence Explained
• What Is the Average Car Accident Settlement? What Sets the Value
• Back and Neck Injury Settlement After a Car Accident: Factors
• Bicycle Accident Claim: Hit by a Car While Riding
• Broken Bone Car Accident Settlement: What Drives the Value

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