Personal injury lawyer help in Racine County, Wisconsin

Racine County, Wisconsin includes 9 named communities, the largest being Racine, Caledonia, Burlington. Whether an accident happened on a county road, in a small town or in one of the larger communities, the same Wisconsin rules apply: a 3-year filing deadline for most injury claims, modified comparative negligence (51% bar), and lawsuits filed in the Racine County Circuit Court. This page is the county-wide guide, with links to a page for each community.

Ask Legal Matters is a personal injury lead-generation service that collects free case review requests from injured people in the United States and shares them with independent attorneys and law firms. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Requests from Racine County may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle car, truck, motorcycle and pedestrian accidents, slip and fall injuries, workplace injuries and workers' compensation, medical malpractice and wrongful death matters in Wisconsin. There is no charge to submit a request and no obligation to hire anyone.

From 2020 through 2024, federal crash records list 75 fatal crashes in Racine County, in which 81 people died. The roads with the most were State Route 11 (street name not recorded) with 9 fatal crashes, State Route 32 (street name not recorded) with 6 and State Route 20 (street name not recorded) with 5.

The yearly count was 21 in 2020, 6 in 2021, 18 in 2022, 17 in 2023 and 13 in 2024; 49% of the crashes happened after dark. 13 involved a pedestrian, cyclist or other person outside a vehicle, and 31 happened at or near an intersection.

Many fatal crashes in Racine County happen at intersections, where claims usually turn on who had the right of way. Signal timing records and footage from nearby businesses are worth requesting early, before they are overwritten.

Communities in the county with the most fatal crashes coded to them:

• Racine, WI25 fatal crashes · 26 deaths, 2020-2024
• Caledonia, WI13 fatal crashes · 14 deaths, 2020-2024
• Rochester, WI1 fatal crashes · 1 deaths, 2020-2024

Each community below has its own guide with the local court, insurance rules and every type of injury claim.

• Racine, WIpop. 77,742
• Caledonia, WIpop. 24,684
• Burlington, WIpop. 10,650
• Sturtevant, WIpop. 6,960
• Waterford, WIpop. 5,358
• Union Grove, WIpop. 4,891
• Rochester, WIpop. 3,765
• Franksville, WIpop. 1,846

Smaller communities in Racine County include Kansasville. Residents of these areas follow the same Wisconsin rules, use the same Racine County Circuit Court, and can request a free case review from anywhere in the county.

Wisconsin generally gives an injured person three years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m)); medical malpractice is different (three years). Wrongful death claims follow their own deadline, which can differ from the one above. Claims against a city, county, school district or state agency follow separate and often much shorter deadlines. Once the deadline passes, the Racine County Circuit Court will dismiss the case regardless of how clear the fault was, so the practical rule in Racine County is to get legal advice early.

Wisconsin follows modified comparative negligence (51% bar). In plain terms, you can recover as long as you were not more than 50% at fault, and your award is reduced by your share of fault. Insurance adjusters apply this rule from the first phone call, which is why the way an accident is described and documented in the days after it happens in Racine County has a direct effect on what a claim is worth.

After a crash in Racine County, the at-fault driver's liability insurance is the primary source of compensation. Wisconsin requires drivers to carry only 25/50/10 in coverage (thousands of dollars for bodily injury per person, per accident, and property damage), which serious injuries quickly exhaust. Underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy and claims against additional responsible parties often make the difference in Racine County cases.

Lawsuits arising from accidents in Racine County are typically filed in the Racine County Circuit Court, the trial court of general jurisdiction for Racine County, although cases can sometimes be filed where the defendant resides or does business, and claims against out-of-state trucking companies or manufacturers may end up in federal court. Most claims settle before trial, but the credible ability to try a case in Racine County is what moves insurers to pay fair value.

Employees injured on the job in Racine County are generally covered by Wisconsin workers' compensation, administered through the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Report the injury to your employer within 30 days — a late report can delay or put the claim at risk, and the exceptions vary by state — then file the formal claim within two years. Workers' compensation does not pay for pain and suffering, so when a third party such as a subcontractor, driver or equipment manufacturer caused the injury, a separate personal injury claim is often worth pursuing alongside it.

After a crash in Racine County, most people ask the same questions first. These guides answer them in plain English; the Wisconsin rules that change the answers are explained on this page.

• What should you do after a car accident?
• How do you file a car accident insurance claim?
• What is the average car accident settlement?
• How should you deal with the insurance adjuster after a car accident?
• What happens if an uninsured driver hits you?
• What happens if you are partly at fault in a car accident?

• Kenosha County, WI
• Milwaukee County, WI
• Waukesha County, WI
• Walworth County, WI

See the Wisconsin personal injury guide for every county in the state.