Wisconsin Truck Accident Law : Wisconsin Truck Accident Lawyer & Attorney : Rozek Law Offices : Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, La Crosse

On October 22, 2008, a Madison federal grand jury indicted the semi-truck driver involved in the 2005 tractor trailer truck accident that killed five Wisconsin residents and injured dozens others. The accident involved a  bus carrying members of the Chippewa Falls High School Band, which slammed into an overturned semi-truck, moments after the semi-truck driver lost control.

The semi-truck driver, Michael J. Kozlowski, of Indiana, was acquitted of all criminal charges last year in state court, including a negligent homicide charge. The new federal charges stem from the truck driver falsifying his driver logs.

According to the indictment and the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the truck driver had falsely logged 10 hours of sleep time on 12 separate occasions. All of the false logs occurred within a three month period in fall of 2005.

Under federal law, semi-truck drivers are required to record their hours of service. This includes documenting the amount of time driving, as well as time sleeping and time off. The NTSB investigation concluded that truck driver fatigue was a major factor in causing the crash. Visit our Wisconsin Truck Driver Fatigue page for more information on hours of service requirements.

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The Wisconsin Department of Transportation recently released their 2006 traffic crash statistics, including those for all reported Wisconsin truck accidents.

According to the report, there were 7,157 large truck crashes in Wisconsin in 2006. Of these large truck collisions, 78 of the crashes resulted in fatalities, and another 1,814 crashes resulted in injuries to occupants of the truck or other vehicle involved in the crash. 84 people were killed in the 78 fatal large truck crashes and 2,642 were injured as a result of the 1,814 large truck crashes.

The report breaks down the age and sex of the large truck drivers involved in Wisconsin accidents. Men aged 45 to 54 were responsible for nearly 2,000 Wisconsin large truck crashes that resulted in fatalities, injuries or property damage. This was the highest demographic of truck drivers involved in Wisconsin crashes.

Of the 7,157 crashes involving large trucks in Wisconsin in 2006, the majority (52%) involved some possible contributing cause attributed to the large truck driver. The top contributing factors are indicated below in order of frequency:

1. Inattentive Driving
2. Failure to Control
3. Improper Turn
4. Failure to Yield Right-of-Way
5. Unsafe Backing
6. Speed Too Fast For Conditions
7. Following Too Close
8. Improper Overtaking
9. Disregarded Traffic Control
10. Driver Condition
11. Left of Center
12. Exceed Speed Limit
13. Physically Disabled
14. Other

The report also analyzed Wisconsin School Bus Crashes for 2006. There were 599 school bus crashes in Wisconsin in 2006, which resulted in 3 deaths and 418 injuries. The most common reasons for Wisconsin school bus crashes due to bus drivers are as follows:

1. Failure to Yield Right-of-Way
2. Inattentive Driving
3. Failure to Control
4. Unsafe Backing
5. Improper Turn
6. Following Too Close
7. Speed Too Fast For Conditions
8. Improper Overtaking
9. Disregarded Traffic Control
10. Left of Center
11. Driver Condition
12. Exceed Speed Limit
13. Other

The full report, 2006 Wisconsin Traffic Crash Facts, can be downloaded from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation website.

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On Thursday, October 2, 2008, at about 10:40 a.m. in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a utility truck ran into a minivan at Northland Avenue and US-41. The utility truck was hauling metal and PVC piping. Upon impact with the minivan, a piece of metal piping was launched into the passenger side of the minivan.

A two-year old girl, seated in her childseat in the minivan, was critically injured. The girl was transported to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, Wisconsin, and was later transferred to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At last report, she remained in critical condition.

A preliminary investigation of the accident revealed that the 36 year-old driver of the utility truck was heading west as the minivan was turning east onto Wisconsin 15 from the US-41 southbound off ramp. It appears as though the driver of the van ran a stop sign, crashing into the minivan.

The Wisconsin State Patrol is currently in the process of doing an accident reconstruction of the tragic collision. The critical questions in the investigation appear to be the reasons why the driver failed to stop at the stop sign, as well as the reason why the metal piping was not properly secured in order to prevent it from being launched from the utility truck.

The majority of heavy trucks that operate within Wisconsin are subject to most of the requirements of the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Regulations, either directly or indirectly, because of the adoption of the federal regulations by Wisconsin law. If indeed the utility truck was required to comply with the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Regulations, then the truck driver would have been required to safely inspect and secure the metal and PVC piping. The shipper may also have had a responsibility to adequately secure the load.

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