Hit by a Drunk Driver in Milwaukee?

If you’ve been hit by a drunk driver, call 911 immediately. Tell the dispatcher you suspect the other driver is impaired — this ensures police respond with the intention of conducting a field sobriety test and potentially a breathalyzer or blood draw at the scene.

The responding officers need to document the drunk driver’s condition before it changes. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) drops over time, and every minute matters. The police report from an OWI crash is one of the most powerful pieces of evidence in your civil claim — it captures the driver’s BAC, field sobriety test results, witness statements, and the officer’s own observations of impairment.

Get yourself to a hospital. Froedtert Hospital operates the only adult Level I Trauma Center in eastern Wisconsin. Aurora Sinai Medical Center and Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s both have emergency departments in Milwaukee. Drunk driving crashes tend to be high-speed, high-impact collisions — the injuries are often severe. Don’t wait to “see how you feel.” Go now.

When officers arrive, give them a complete account. If you saw the other driver swerving across lanes, running a red light, driving the wrong way, or drifting off the road before the collision, say so. If you smelled alcohol when you interacted with the driver, say that too. Every detail goes into the police report — and that report becomes a key piece of evidence in your civil claim.

The officers will handle the drunk driving investigation: field sobriety tests, a breathalyzer or blood draw, and potentially an arrest. A BAC result showing the driver was over 0.08 is powerful evidence of negligence that’s very hard for any insurance company to argue against. Wisconsin has a 93% OWI conviction rate — the criminal system takes these cases seriously, and the evidence it produces works in your favor on the civil side.

If you’re physically able, photograph everything. The other driver’s vehicle, your vehicle, the intersection or stretch of road, traffic signals, skid marks, debris, and any visible injuries. If there are beer cans, bottles, or open containers in or around the other driver’s car, photograph those too — from a safe distance. Don’t touch anything in the other vehicle.

Get the other driver’s name, insurance information, and license plate number. Get the names and phone numbers of any witnesses. In the chaos after a crash, people leave quickly — grab their contact info before they go.

Keep photographing your injuries over the following days and weeks. Bruising deepens. Surgical incisions scar. Casts and braces tell a visual story that medical records alone don’t capture. Save every medical bill, pharmacy receipt, and record of missed work.

Your civil claim is separate from any criminal charges the driver faces. Even if the drunk driver pleads guilty to OWI, that doesn’t automatically get you compensated. You have to pursue your own claim — either through the driver’s insurance company or by filing a lawsuit.

Wisconsin is an at-fault state. The drunk driver (and their insurance) is responsible for your damages: medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, property damage, and any long-term impacts on your life and earning capacity.

Liability in drunk driving cases is rarely disputed. A driver with a BAC over 0.08 was breaking the law, period. The fights in these cases are almost always about the size of the payout, not who caused the crash. Expect the insurance company to argue your injuries aren’t as severe as you claim, that you had pre-existing conditions, or that you somehow contributed to the collision.

In most states, you can sue the bar that overserved a drunk driver. Wisconsin is different. Under Wis. Stat. § 125.035, bars, restaurants, and liquor stores are generally immune from liability for injuries caused by their adult patrons, no matter how much they served them.

There are only two narrow exceptions. A bar can be held liable if it knowingly served alcohol to a minor (someone under 21) who then caused a crash. And an establishment can be liable if it forced someone to consume alcohol or misrepresented that a drink contained no alcohol — situations that are extremely rare in practice.

Social hosts — people who throw parties at their homes — have essentially the same immunity. You can’t sue your neighbor for hosting a party where the driver got drunk, unless the host knowingly served a minor.

This means in the vast majority of Milwaukee drunk driving cases, your claim is against the drunk driver and their insurance — not the bar. It’s a gap in Wisconsin law that legislators have been reluctant to close, given the state’s deep cultural ties to the bar and tavern industry.

Drunk driving crash victims in Wisconsin can recover the full range of personal injury damages. There’s no cap on damages in drunk driving cases (unlike medical malpractice, which has a $750,000 noneconomic cap).

Medical expenses cover everything from the emergency room and ambulance ride through surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, and any future treatment related to the crash. Drunk driving injuries tend to be severe — traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, multiple fractures, internal organ injuries — because impaired drivers often hit at full speed without braking.

Lost wages include time missed from work during recovery and any long-term reduction in your earning capacity. If you can’t return to the same job because of your injuries, the difference in lifetime earnings is compensable.

Pain and suffering covers the physical pain and emotional toll of the crash and recovery. Fear, anxiety, PTSD, nightmares, and the psychological impact of knowing someone chose to drink and drive are all compensable.

Property damage covers your vehicle and any personal belongings destroyed in the crash.

One thing Wisconsin does not allow in civil drunk driving cases: punitive damages. Punitive damages (meant to punish outrageous conduct) are available in some states for DUI crashes, but Wisconsin courts have generally not permitted them in standard negligence cases. Your compensation comes through economic and noneconomic damages, which have no cap in drunk driving cases.

You have three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit (Wis. Stat. § 893.54). If the drunk driver killed someone, the wrongful death statute of limitations is two years from the date of death for motor vehicle accidents (Wis. Stat. § 893.54(2m)).

Don’t confuse your civil deadline with the criminal case timeline. The criminal OWI case operates on its own schedule. Your civil claim has its own clock, and it runs whether or not the criminal case has been resolved.

Three years (or two, for wrongful death) sounds like enough time. It’s often not. Medical treatment takes months. You may not know the full extent of your injuries for a year or more. Negotiations with insurance drag on. Start the process early so you’re not scrambling at the deadline.

Drunk driving crash cases are among the strongest personal injury claims because liability is usually clear. But “strong” doesn’t mean “easy.” The insurance company’s job is to pay as little as possible, even when their policyholder was legally drunk behind the wheel.

An experienced attorney can obtain the police report and BAC evidence, coordinate with the district attorney’s office on the criminal case, calculate your full damages (including future medical needs and lost earning capacity), and negotiate with the insurance company from a position of strength.

Most personal injury attorneys in Milwaukee handle drunk driving crash cases on contingency — no upfront cost, and they only get paid if you recover money. A free consultation costs you nothing and tells you whether your case has value and what the process would look like.

If your injuries are serious, if the driver’s insurance is offering a lowball settlement, or if someone was killed, don’t try to handle this alone. These cases have real value, and the insurance company knows it.