Injured in a Hit-and-Run in Milwaukee?

Do not chase the other driver. The impulse is understandable, but pursuing a fleeing vehicle puts you and everyone else on the road at risk. Stay where you are, check yourself for injuries, and call 911 immediately.

Tell the dispatcher it was a hit-and-run. Give them everything you can about the other vehicle — make, model, color, partial plate number, direction they fled, any damage you noticed. Even a partial plate or a general vehicle description can be enough for police to find the driver. Milwaukee police and county-wide law enforcement agencies investigate hit-and-run crashes daily — the city averages over 5,400 a year.

If you’re able, flag down witnesses before they leave. Other drivers, pedestrians, people sitting on porches — anyone who saw the vehicle or the crash. Their descriptions and any dashcam or security camera footage can be the difference between finding the driver and never identifying them.

Even if your injuries seem minor, get checked out at an emergency room or urgent care the same day. Adrenaline and shock mask pain. Soft tissue injuries, concussions, and internal bleeding don’t always show symptoms right away.

In Milwaukee, Froedtert Hospital has the only adult Level I Trauma Center in eastern Wisconsin. Aurora Sinai Medical Center and Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s both have emergency departments. For children, Children’s Wisconsin in Wauwatosa is the pediatric center.

Medical documentation matters for two reasons. First, it links your injuries to the crash — without that documented connection, any insurance claim gets harder. Second, if the driver is found later, your medical records become the foundation of your claim against them. If they’re never found, you’ll need those records to file a claim under your own uninsured motorist coverage.

If police responded to the scene, they’ll generate a crash report. If they didn’t — which happens with lower-severity hit-and-runs — go to the nearest Milwaukee Police Department district station or file a report through the MPD Records Section. You can reach them at (414) 935-7281 or visit 749 W. State Street during business hours.

The police report is your single most important document. It creates an official record that a hit-and-run occurred, captures the evidence collected at the scene, and triggers an investigation. Give the police everything you have: your description of the other vehicle, witness contact info, the time and location of the crash, and any photos or video.

Ask whether there are traffic cameras, red-light cameras, or business security cameras near the crash location. Milwaukee has been expanding its camera infrastructure, and footage from nearby intersections or gas stations has helped solve hit-and-run cases. The police may not check every camera without being prompted — ask specifically.

Wisconsin law requires you to report any accident involving injury, death, or property damage over $1,000 (Wis. Stat. § 346.70). For hit-and-runs, filing the report is also the trigger for your uninsured motorist claim if the driver is never found.

Write down every detail you recall about the other vehicle and the crash while it’s still fresh. Color, size, body style, any distinguishing features — bumper stickers, damage, loud exhaust, tinted windows. Which direction did they go? Did they brake before impact or hit you at full speed? Did they slow down after the collision or accelerate away?

Photograph your vehicle’s damage, the crash location, skid marks, debris left behind, and any paint transfer on your car. Paint transfer is physical evidence — it can match the other vehicle’s factory color and narrow the search. Don’t wash your car or have the damage repaired until police have had a chance to examine it.

If you were a pedestrian or cyclist hit by a car that fled, photograph your injuries, your damaged clothing, and the exact spot where the impact happened. Look for broken pieces from the other vehicle — mirror glass, plastic trim, headlight fragments. Those parts can identify the year, make, and model of the car.

Save everything. Tow truck receipts, medical bills, pharmacy costs, records of missed work. You’ll need all of it whether you’re filing against the other driver’s insurance or your own.

Here’s the reality: many hit-and-run drivers are never identified. In Milwaukee, with 5,400+ hit-and-run crashes per year, police simply don’t have the resources to solve every case. But that doesn’t mean you’re left with nothing.

Wisconsin requires all drivers to carry uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. This is exactly the situation UM coverage is designed for. When the other driver is unidentified — a textbook hit-and-run — your own UM policy steps in and covers your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering, up to your policy limits.

To trigger your UM coverage for a hit-and-run, you generally need to file a police report and demonstrate that you were injured by an unidentified driver. Your insurance company will treat this as a claim under your own policy, which means they’ll investigate and negotiate just like any other claim. Don’t assume they’ll be generous just because you’re their customer — they have every incentive to pay as little as possible.

If you also carry underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, that provides an additional layer. If the hit-and-run driver is eventually found but has minimal or no insurance, your UIM coverage makes up the difference.

Check your policy now. Know your UM and UIM limits. If they’re at the state minimum ($25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident), they may not be enough for a serious injury. This is a good reason for every Milwaukee driver to carry higher UM/UIM limits.

If police identify the hit-and-run driver — through cameras, witnesses, paint transfer analysis, or the driver turning themselves in — the situation changes. Now you have a defendant.

The driver faces criminal charges under Wisconsin’s hit-and-run statute (Wis. Stat. § 346.67). Penalties range from misdemeanor fines for property-damage-only crashes up to 25 years in prison for fatal hit-and-runs. Those criminal consequences are separate from your civil claim — more on that in the local info section below.

On the civil side, you now file your claim against the driver and their insurance — not your own UM policy. The fact that the driver fled the scene works strongly in your favor. Fleeing is evidence of consciousness of guilt and makes any comparative negligence argument against you much harder for the defense to sell. Juries don’t look kindly on drivers who hit people and run.

Wisconsin’s three-year statute of limitations (Wis. Stat. § 893.54) applies from the date of the crash, not from the date the driver is identified. If it takes police two and a half years to find the driver, you have very little time left to file suit. This is one more reason to start the process early.

Wisconsin’s modified comparative negligence rule (Wis. Stat. § 895.045) applies to hit-and-run cases. If you’re found partially at fault for the crash — for example, if you were jaywalking when a car hit you and fled — your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault. If you’re 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing.

In hit-and-run cases where the driver is never found, comparative negligence is less of an issue because there’s no defendant arguing fault. Your UM carrier may raise it, but they have limited information about the other driver’s behavior.

When the driver is found, comparative negligence becomes a real battleground. The driver’s attorney will try to paint a picture where you contributed to the crash. But the fact that the driver fled undermines their credibility on fault. A jury is unlikely to blame the person who stayed and called 911 when the other driver ran.

Hit-and-run cases have layers that standard car accident claims don’t. You may be filing against your own insurance company rather than the other driver’s. The criminal investigation may or may not produce a suspect. The statute of limitations clock is ticking whether the driver has been found or not. And if the driver is found, coordinating the criminal and civil tracks takes experience.

An attorney can file the UM claim with your insurer and negotiate on your behalf, push for a thorough police investigation, preserve evidence, and — if the driver is identified — pursue the full civil claim against them.

Most personal injury attorneys in Milwaukee handle hit-and-run cases on contingency. No upfront cost, and they only get paid if you recover money. A free consultation tells you what your options are and what the case might be worth — whether the driver has been found or not.