Distracted driving is one of the most common causes of accidents and injuries. In Wisconsin personal injury cases, the burden of proof lies on the injured victim to prove that the other driver’s negligence caused their injuries. Therefore, in texting and driving accident cases in Wisconsin, it’s critical to present driver distraction evidence.

If the other driver was talking to someone on the phone, texting, or using social media or another app in the moments before they struck your vehicle, your personal injury attorney must move fast to find and preserve all possible evidence for distracted driving.

With the right investigative tools and an experienced lawyer on your side, you can pull data that shows whether the driver was scrolling, calling, or texting just before impact. Urgency is critical in these texting and driving accident claims, so consult an attorney as soon as possible after the crash.

Distracted Driving Laws in Wisconsin

Under Wisconsin Statute 346.89(3), it’s unlawful for a driver to compose or send text messages or emails while operating a motor vehicle. It also applies when the vehicle is stopped at a red light or stop sign, so long as the engine is running and the car is in gear.

Wisconsin has also adopted the federal ban on texting for Commercial Driver License (CDL) holders (49 CFR § 392.80); violations result in disqualification of driving privileges. Texting is allowed only if the driver needs to contact police or emergency services.

To succeed in a personal injury claim based on distracted driving, you not only need to prove that the driver was distracted, but that their distraction (and resulting negligence) caused your accident. Your lawyer must demonstrate:

• The driver was distracted due to an activity (texting, reaching, eating, scrolling)
• That distraction interfered with their ability to safely operate the vehicle
• That interference caused them to breach the duty of care (they failed to act as a reasonably prudent driver would)
• That breach of duty by the distracted driver caused your injuries

How to Prove the Driver Was Texting

Legally admissible evidence for distracted driving in a car accident claim may include the following:

Cell Phone Records

If the at fault driver was using a cell phone at the time of the crash, the driver’s phone may contain evidence. The time-stamped records of text messages sent and received, call logs showing duration and timing of phone calls, and mobile data usage logs (internet browsing, app use) can provide strong circumstantial evidence of distraction.

However, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and most other providers only retain this information for 90–180 days. You must send them a preservation of evidence letter within a few days after your accident.

Device Forensics (With Court Approval)

If the phone logs aren’t sufficient or the driver claims someone else was using their phone, your attorney may be able to pursue forensic imaging of the device. Getting approval for this level of access requires showing the court that call logs were inconclusive or that there’s already a strong suspicion of phone use.

A digital forensic expert can extract:

• Precise timestamps of app launches (Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Spotify)
• Recent typing activity (including searches and texts)
• Screenshots or cached content
• Deleted texts or call history
• Bluetooth pairing records (was the phone connected to the car or handheld?)

Event Data Recorder (Black Box) Data

Most vehicles manufactured after 2013 contain some version of an EDR. It’s essentially a crash data recorder that stores 5 to 20 seconds of data before and after the accident. Using the vehicle data points such as speed at impact, acceleration and braking, steering input, and seatbelt status, your attorney can identify behavioral clues about the driver that suggest distraction.

Video Footage from Surveillance Cameras and Dash Cams

In some cases, video evidence may be available from traffic cameras installed near the accident scene, which could record the moments before the collision occurred. The dash cams of the vehicles involved, as well as video footage from stores or homes nearby with cameras, police body cams, and public buses (with outward-facing cameras), may reveal the actions of distracted drivers.

Your legal team can access this footage to look for any signs that prove the driver was texting or:

• Visibly holding or looking at a phone
• Lane drifting or failing to react to obvious traffic signals
• Steering with one hand (or had their head down)

Keep in mind that the public works and traffic departments in Wisconsin have automated systems that generally overwrite footage within 7 to 10 days. Therefore, fast legal intervention is vital in car accidents resulting from distracted driving.

Eyewitness Testimony

If any pedestrians, cyclists, Uber drivers, or passengers in other vehicles saw your accident, their statements can be cross-referenced with physical driver distraction evidence to support a timeline of inattention.

It’s possible that someone had a better angle to see the driver’s distraction in the seconds before a collision. Witnesses’ testimonies in distracted driving accidents can be convincing because they’re neutral parties.

Accident Reports

In some cases, the crash report completed by the responding officer contains clues for your lawyer. The standard form (MV4000) used by the police in Wisconsin includes checkboxes for contributing circumstances such as:

• A driver distracted by electronic devices
• An inattentive driver
• A driver lost in thought

The form also has diagrams, narrative sections, and codes for road and weather conditions, which can all be used to build a strong liability argument. Under the narrative section, the officer writes what they think happened based on interviews, positions of vehicles, and other physical evidence. In case the officers suspect distracted driving, they may note this fact in the police reports.

Social Media Metadata

For attorneys and law enforcement agencies, social media can be a tool to prove distracted driving. If the other driver was posting selfies, TikToks, live-streams, or status updates while driving, the digital footprint created by those activities might be used against them.

Even if those posts are deleted after the accident, there are digital tools available to retrieve the metadata from social apps and gather evidence to establish the other driver’s distraction.

Our Wisconsin Car Accident Lawyers Will Fight to Prove Your Injury Claim

If you or someone you love was injured in a car crash, our car accident attorneys at Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs can help you prove the negligence of all parties involved and recover maximum possible compensation for your injuries.

From the moment you hire us, our team will immediately swing into action and start collecting strong evidence. We will identify all the liable parties and build a compelling case for maximum damages. To schedule your free consultation, call us at 855-954-1186 or contact us online.

A car accident can lead to life-altering injuries and the victim may be left struggling with mounting medical bills, lost income, and prolonged pain and suffering. If the accident occurred due to another’s fault, but they are underinsured, it may get harder to recover compensation from the at-fault driver’s car insurance company.

In this situation, you need legal help from a personal injury lawyer to explore all possible avenues for financial recovery.

Minimum Insurance Requirements for Drivers in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a fault state, which means if you are injured in an accident caused by another person, the negligent party and their insurer are liable to compensate you. The state has mandated minimum auto insurance policy liability amounts to protect against an underinsured or uninsured motorist claim for accident-related damages. Wisconsin minimum car insurance liability coverage amounts are as follows:

Liability for Bodily Injury

• $25,000 per injured victim
• $50,000 per accident if two or more persons are injured

Liability for Property Damage 

• $10,000 per accident for damage caused to another’s vehicle or property

Uninsured Motorist Coverage Wisconsin

• $25,000 per injured victim
• $50,000 per accident if two or more persons are injured

Notably, while uninsured motorist (UM) coverage is mandatory in Wisconsin, underinsured motorist (UIM) is an optional coverage in the state. Wisconsin also does not have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage.

Minimum Coverage is Not Enough to Pay for Your Damages

In a realistic sense, the minimum insurance requirements for Wisconsin drivers are inadequate, considering the high costs of medical care and other related expenses these days. Even if you have high uninsured or underinsured coverage, most insurance companies will undervalue your claim in car accidents.

Suppose the accident resulted in catastrophic injuries or a wrongful death. In that case, the mandatory minimum coverage amounts may prove to be woefully inadequate for the injured victim or the survivors who lost a loved one.

How Underinsured Motorist Coverage Works in Wisconsin

Although underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage is not mandatory in Wisconsin, it can offer some financial protection in an accident if you have it in your policy. UIM coverage becomes applicable once the liability insurance limits of the at-fault driver are exhausted and your financial claim exceeds those limits.

Example Scenario: Consider a situation where you purchased a high UIM coverage of $300,000, while the negligent motorist who caused your accident only had $25,000 bodily injury liability coverage. Following your claim for damages, the at-fault driver’s insurance company may pay you only up to $25,000 based on the coverage limit.

The remaining $275,000 can be claimed from your insurance company, from whom you purchased UIM coverage for $300,000, depending on your actual damages.

Steps to File an Insurance Claim When the At-Fault Driver Does Not Have Enough Coverage

At Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs, our knowledgeable personal injury attorneys will diligently pursue your claim for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering when you are injured in a collision with an uninsured or underinsured motorist.

Identify the Potential Liable Parties

Our attorneys will investigate whether any other parties besides the negligent driver may be held liable for your injuries:

• The car owner, if different from the uninsured or insured driver
• Employer, if the at-fault driver was operating a company car
• Car manufacturer or maintenance company
• State or city agencies in cases involving defective roads or poor signage

Explore All Possible Sources of Coverage

Our lawyers will find out whether the negligent driver has any additional sources of insurance coverage that could pay for your damages:

• Household policies
• Business policies
• Umbrella policies

Our legal team will also assess your insurance policy for additional coverage, such as MedPay or collision coverage.

Pursue an Underinsured Motorist Claim 

We will swiftly file a UIM claim to recover compensation from your insurance provider. You should know that UM and UIM claims are adversarial in nature. Your insurance company will demand evidence of the other driver’s negligence and documents showing that their policy limit is exhausted.

Engage in Settlement Negotiations

We will vigorously negotiate a settlement with the insurance company on your behalf. Based on our formidable record of financial recoveries and our trial experience, the insurer may agree to settle fairly. If not, we will be prepared to fight a bad-faith lawsuit in court.

Advantages of Legal Representation from Our Auto Accident Lawyers

In injury claims against an underinsured or uninsured driver, the insurance companies in Wisconsin may:

• Fail to recognize the full extent and value of your injuries
• Use delay tactics to frustrate you, hoping that you will settle for less
• Diminish your claim by arguing you were partially to blame for the crash
• Deny your insurance claim on the basis of policy technicalities

At Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs, our seasoned Wisconsin car accident attorneys have the skills and resources to take on powerful insurance companies and aggressively negotiate a fair settlement for your injuries and losses. However, we will be fully prepared to take the legal battle to the courtroom if a settlement is not reached.

When needed, our attorneys will work with accident reconstructionists, economists, and medical specialists to establish:

• Fault of the other driver
• Severity of your injuries
• Current and future wage loss
• Full extent of your pain and suffering
• Your need for long-term care and rehab

Get Our Experienced Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorneys on Your Side

Catastrophic injuries in an accident can have a life-altering impact on you and your family. If the at-fault driver is underinsured, challenges increase for your full financial recovery. Our top-rated Wisconsin personal injury lawyers at Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs are determined to fight for maximum compensation for your injuries and losses.

Our lawyers will carefully evaluate complex insurance policies, pursue every possible layer of coverage available, negotiate strongly with the insurance company, and remain trial-ready at all times. When the stakes are high, you don’t have to wait after a serious accident to explore policy limits on your own. Reach out to our legal team as soon as possible. To schedule your free consultation, call us at 855-954-1186 or contact us online.

Following an accident involving a serious injury, the personal injury claims process that insurance companies usually adopt is designed to delay, devalue, or deny valid claims. Insurance adjusters may sound empathetic, but they will work to minimize the fair compensation you’re owed for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

The insurance adjuster will set the tone to minimize your expectations and look for information that they could use against you later. While you’re faced with mounting medical bills and physical and emotional challenges, you don’t have to directly fight the tactics insurance companies use. Instead, let an experienced personal injury lawyer from Gingras, Thomsen & WAchs negotiate a fair settlement for you.

Here are some of the common tactics insurance companies may use:

Challenging the Necessity of Your Medical Treatment

If you have suffered serious injuries for which you’re seeking compensation, be ready for the adjuster to use the “causation denial” tactic, i.e., claim your injuries were minor or that your treatment was excessive, unrelated, or unreasonably prolonged.

There are numerous internal medical consultants and independent physicians out there who almost exclusively work with insurance companies to find ways to discredit injury claims. You might be asked to undergo an independent medical examination (IME), which is anything but.

If your physical therapy lasted three months, they may claim only four weeks were “medically necessary.” If you received injections or MRIs, they might argue these were non-standard or performed too soon.

Not to mention, they will almost certainly comb through your complete medical history to identify pre-existing injuries and health conditions, and argue that your symptoms stem from them (not caused by the accident). Framing your injuries as exaggerated or unrelated is the easiest way for them to reduce your claim value.

Hiring an “Independent Medical Examiner” to Reject Your Treatment

An independent medical examiner is someone you have never seen and who has never examined you, but they’re brought in to retroactively question your treating physicians’ decisions. This is one of the common insurance company claim tactics to devalue insurance personal injury claims.

If you’re receiving chiropractic care, physical therapy, or pain management after a crash as instructed by the medical team treating your injuries, the insurance provider might commission a “utilization review” where their chosen physician reviews your file. That doctor, paid by the insurer, might conclude your treatment was “not medically necessary” beyond a certain number of visits.

Shifting Blame to You Through Modified Comparative Negligence

Wisconsin follows a modified comparative negligence rule, under which you’re barred from recovering any compensation if you’re 51% or more at fault for the accident. This naturally gives insurers a strong incentive to push fault past the 50% threshold and decrease what they owe in proportion to the percentage of fault assigned to you.

In a rear-end collision, where liability seems quite obvious, the claims analyst might argue you contributed to the crash by suddenly stopping, having malfunctioning brake lights, or failing to maintain a safe lane position. For instance, if you’re found to be 40% at fault, your compensation could be reduced by 40%.

For insurance claim devaluation, they may cherry-pick facts from the police report, misinterpret traffic laws, misquote witness statements, or question medical records. Sometimes, they rely on incomplete or biased crash diagrams to make it look like you had more control over the outcome than you realistically did.

Using Bureaucracy to Pressure Low Settlements

Perhaps nothing is more effective for insurance claim devaluation than burying the claimant in red tape, taking weeks (or months) to respond, and routinely “losing” documents or requesting the same records multiple times. The more they can stall, the faster they can wear you down.

People who have been injured and have missed work, unpaid medical bills, or car repair costs to worry about are sometimes desperate enough to accept a lowball offer just to make the ordeal end.

The incredibly minimal amount of money offered by insurance companies early in the process has a name; it’s known as a “nuisance offer.” If they know you’re struggling to pay your bills and might accept the money without realizing the long-term costs of your injury, what do they have to lose?

Undermining Your Credibility by Surveilling Your Social Media

What you post online, or how you appear in public, can be taken out of context and used to argue that you aren’t as injured as you claim to be.

If you post a photo smiling at a family event, for instance, they might claim you aren’t in physical or emotional distress. If you’re tagged in a hiking photo two weeks after your accident (even if the photo was taken months before), that image can be submitted as evidence to dispute your pain or mobility limitations.

Using Prior Statements and Paperwork Against You

If there’s one thing a personal injury attorney will tell you to do to protect your interests, it’s to never sign any documents and speak to anyone (including the insurance company) about your accident without legal counsel present.

One of the first things the at-fault party’s insurer will do after an accident is request a recorded statement to get your side of the story. Don’t fall for it. It’s an officially recorded interview with questions intended to downplay your injuries, admit uncertainty, or say things that can be twisted later.

You might think you’re exchanging polite pleasantries with the adjuster when saying you’re feeling okay at the moment. But if you end up developing symptoms later, that single phrase could become their basis for arguing your injuries didn’t come from the crash. You might inadvertently say something to suggest negligence on your part, regardless of the other driver’s fault.

Exploiting Policy Limits You Didn’t Know Existed

Many car accident claimants don’t realize until it’s too late that the at-fault driver’s insurance policy has a low liability limit. And insurance uses that to their full advantage. If the policy only covers $25,000 in bodily injury and your damages are much higher, they will rush to tender the limits and walk away, regardless of how catastrophic your injuries are.

Worse, they may delay confirming policy limits until months into your treatment, stringing you along during negotiations without disclosing that there’s a cap on what they will pay because they aren’t legally required to tell you upfront in Wisconsin.

In some cases, they also challenge whether their policy even applies. If the at-fault driver borrowed someone else’s car or was using the vehicle for work (e.g., Uber), the insurer may argue there’s no coverage under their policy.

Schedule a Free Consultation with a Personal Injury Attorney in Wisconsin

At Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs, our seasoned car accident lawyers will move fast to collect medical evidence, police reports, photos and videos, surveillance footage, witness statements, and build a strong claim for damages against the at-fault party. We’re aggressive negotiators, and we won’t back down against pressure from the insurance company.

If the insurance company is determined to refuse a fair settlement offer for your injuries and losses, our attorneys are fully prepared to take the legal battle to the courtroom. We leave no stone unturned to recover damages for injury victims. To schedule your free consultation, call us at 855-954-1186 or contact us online.

According to the traditional fault-based (tort) liability system in Wisconsin, the driver legally determined to have caused the accident is responsible for covering the medical expenses of those injured. But this is only possible if the injured victim can provide sufficient evidence to establish liability. Once fault is proven, the injured party has the right to pursue compensation from the at-fault driver’s auto insurance carrier.

As straightforward as it sounds, it rarely happens that way in personal injury cases. Regardless of how much physical evidence you have against the other party, their insurance company may try to dispute your claim or minimize their liability to protect their own bottom line.

Who Covers Medical Costs After an Accident in WI

Every driver who registers and operates a vehicle in Wisconsin is legally required to carry a minimum amount of liability auto insurance as a way to pay for any injuries and property damages they cause to other people in an accident. Known as 25/50/10 coverage, the law has specified these limits:

• $25,000 for bodily injury to one person
• $50,000 for bodily injury to all persons in a single accident
• $10,000 for property damage

Assuming the at-fault driver is carrying this vehicle liability insurance (it’s mandatory), their insurance company is legally responsible for covering your medical bills after a car crash in Wisconsin, including:

• Emergency room visits
• Hospital stays
• Follow-up appointments
• Physical therapy
• Medications
• Future medical costs related to the injury

The Insurance Company Won’t Pay Immediately

Remember that the other driver’s insurer won’t be paying medical expenses as they’re incurred. Unlike health insurance, auto liability carriers don’t issue rolling payments for treatment even if you have adequate medical payments coverage. Instead, they offer a one-time settlement after you have completed medical care and the full extent of your injuries is known.

If you have health insurance, your doctors may bill it first. If your auto insurance policy includes Medical Payments (Med Pay Insurer) Coverage, use it to pay for your medical expenses, regardless of who was at fault. It covers out-of-pocket costs (deductibles, co-pays, or treatment that health insurance may not fully reimburse) up to the limits you purchased.

When you’re paying for treatment from your own auto or health insurance policies or out of your own pocket, it may be tempting to accept the first settlement offer by the other driver’s insurer. Don’t make this mistake. You shouldn’t consider resolving your claim until your physicians determine you have reached Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI).

MMI indicates that your condition has stabilized and is unlikely to improve with further treatment. Settling prematurely could result in a low payout in auto accidents if future procedures, therapy, or long-term care become necessary.

Moreover, when you do accept a settlement, that compensation is also intended to reimburse any third parties who paid for your care in the interim. This includes health insurance providers who may assert subrogation rights, as well as any balances you paid directly.

The state law allows subrogated parties to be reimbursed from your settlement proceeds, subject to certain reductions if your Wisconsin car accident lawyer negotiated a compromise and subject to Wiscon’s Made Whole Law.

What If the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Isn’t Enough?

Considering the cost of medical care today, it’s no wonder that the minimum coverage amount required by Wisconsin law is quite low. The $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (for all injured people) is rarely sufficient when the victims sustain serious or permanent injuries.

If the other driver (or owner of the vehicle) has insufficient coverage or no insurance at all, you may be able to get additional compensation through the UM/UIM (Uninsured/Underinsured) motorist coverage of your own auto policy.

In Wisconsin, about 15% of all registered drivers don’t carry any auto insurance, so there’s always a chance that your accident may be with an uninsured driver or vehicle. Your own uninsured motorist coverage is then the only place you can turn for compensation. You can sue the at-fault driver if you wish, but uninsured or underinsured drivers rarely have enough assets to make this worthwhile.

Other Avenues to Obtain Compensation After an Accident in Wisconsin

In some car accidents, the negligent driver isn’t the only party that could be held liable for your injuries. Seasoned Wisconsin car accident lawyers will investigate the liability of all potential parties, such as:

• The vehicle owner (if different from the driver)
• Employer of the commercial vehicle (under the “respondeat superior” doctrine)
• Other drivers who may have contributed to the auto accident
• City, county, or state government (for unsafe road design, missing signage, or lack of maintenance)
• Vehicle manufacturers or auto part makers (for a defective component)
• Bars or restaurants (dram shop liability)
• Car repair mechanics (for negligent repairs or inspections)
• Insurance coverage of rideshare companies

An experienced Wisconsin car accident attorney can identify all parties who share blame for your accident to maximize the amount of the settlement. If more than one person or organization is at fault, an experienced car accident lawyer will collect evidence to build a strong personal injury claim for damages from all the defendants.

Our Car Accident Lawyers Will Fight to Maximize Your Financial Compensation

When you settle a car accident injury claim, not all of that money goes directly into your pocket. Before you receive your final net compensation, certain reimbursements have to be made towards your treatment bills, legal fees, and subrogation claims (money owed back to insurers or providers who paid your bills up front).

How much of that personal injury settlement you get to keep depends on how strategically those bills and reimbursements are handled during your case.

At Gingras, Thomsen & Wachs, our attorneys will move fast to collect evidence after your Milwaukee car accident occurred to establish liability. From collaborating with healthcare providers for your medical treatment to calculating the real cost of your serious injuries and losses, our legal team takes care of every aspect of your claim.

To schedule your free consultation, call us today at 855-954-1186.