Wisconsin Truck Accident Law : Trucking Injury Lawyer & Attorney for Lawsuits in Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, La Crosse WI

I have become increasingly frustrated over the years by the quality of legal representation provided to Wisconsin truck accident victims. I am often contacted by potential clients requesting that I take over their cases after they had been represented by months or years by attorneys at the large TV-advertising law firms.

Feeling sympathetic, I reluctantly agree to review their file. The first thing I look for is the spoliation letter. As any experienced truck accident lawyer knows, the spoliation letter is perhaps the most important step in representing any truck crash victim. In my office, I insist that a spoliation letter be sent out the same day I am retained. This is not discretionary it is mandatory. The spoliation letter is sent certified to the the trucking company AND the truck driver. The spoliation letter puts the company and driver on notice of the claim and directs them not to destroy the essential evidence that I need to prove my client's case. The spoliation letter also directs the company and driver that if they decide to destroy this critical evidence, then the Court will likely instruct the jury that this evidence would have been favorable to the injury victim. My spoliation letters are very specific as to the exact evidence that must be retained. My spoliation letters vary depending on the facts of the crash. Only an experienced truck accident attorney has the knowledge to draft an appropriate spoliation letter tailored to the facts of the crash.

All too often, in the first five minutes of reviewing the file, I find that the potential client's former attorney failed to send out the spoliation letter. Under federal regulations, trucking companies are required to maintain the majority of this critical evidence for  months. Oftentimes, the trucking companies will intentionally destroy this evidence after 6 months, even though they are know of the crash and the possibility of a future lawsuit. Trucking companies that destroy this critical evidence are guilty of spoliation of evidence and can be found in default or the Court can instruct the jury that they are to infer the missing evidence would have been favorable to the injured person. While this inference is helpful, one can only imagine how helpful the intentionally destroyed evidence would have been to the plaintiff's case.

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Contact an Experienced Wisconsin Truck Accident Attorney.

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Rozek Law Office has rolled out their new Wisconsin Orthopedic Injury page. The new page is essentially a resource center providing Wisconsin orthopedic injury victims with information regarding their specific orthopedic injury. The Wisconsin Orthopedic Injury page provides information about orthopedic injuries to every different part of the body, including the following:

• Hand Injury
• Wrist Injury
• Elbow Injury
• Arm Injury
• Shoulder Injury
• Clavicle Injury
• Rib Injury
• Sternum Injury
• Hip Injury
• Knee Injury
• Leg Injury
• Ankle Injury
• Foot Injury

The Wisconsin Orthopedic Injury page provides accident victims with a information about various orthopedic injuries as well as information about what they can expect following their specific injury. The Wisconsin Orthopedic Injury page contains detailed information about fractures as well as ligament and tendon injuries. Rozek Law offices provides this free information to Wisconsin injury victims in their ongoing effort to educate them about their accident and their injury.

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In what must be a shock to the truck crash victims’ families, the Outagamie County District Attorney’s office has decided not to file charges against the truck driver that killed two people and injured several others. The Outagamie County D.A.’s office claims that there was not enough evidence to prove charges of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, because there was no evidence that the truck driver, Michael Kaiser, knew that his conduct created a substantial and unreasonable risk of death.

The semi-truck crash involved a 7 car pileup on Highway 41 in Outagamie County ten months ago. Investigators for the Wisconsin State Patrol downloaded data from the semi-truck’s Electronic Control Module (ECM-similar to a black box in a plane), which revealed that the semi-truck had the cruise control set at 64 miles per hour as the truck entered a construction zone with slowing traffic. The investigation report goes on to state the following:

In completing this reconstruction, no vehicle, highway, or environmental factors were identified as being contributory to this incident. Rather, the proximate cause of the collision is cited as the Freightliner operator’s lack of attention to the operation of his vehicle and to the approaching stop condition. It is believed that vehicles slowing near the Holland road overpass would have been visible. Furthermore, although the author did not identify any highway factors as being contributory to the incident, the presence of the “Road Work Ahead” and construction barrels should have raised the driver’s awareness level to the possibility of changing traffic conditions. Given the truck’s configuration and compliance with federal standards, it is believed that the driver could have stopped the vehicle in order to avoid the collision.

In contrast, Powertrain Control Module (PCM) data from one of the involved vehicles shows it slowing from approximately 24 miles per hour for over 20 seconds before it was struck. In the area of the collision, orange construction barrels lined the roadway, and the Freightliner had passed official signs indicating ‘Road Work Ahead.’” See the image below:

Truck drivers are trained to know that such conduct can create a substantial and unreasonable risk of death. If Michael Kaiser did not know this, then he should have known this. The Wisconsin CDL Manual, which Kaiser was required to comply with, states the following:

Slow down and be very careful if you see any of the following road hazards:

Work zones. When people are working on the road, it is a hazard. There may be narrower lanes, sharp turns or uneven surfaces. Other drivers are often distracted and drive unsafely. Workers and construction vehicles may get in the way. Drive slowly and carefully near work zones. Use your 4-way flashers or brake lights to warn drivers behind you.

What is especially appalling and upsetting to the victims’ families is that the semi-truck driver, Michael Kaiser, refused to cooperate with the investigation. In the statement he did provide authorities, he estimated his speed at 50 mph as he approached the slowing traffic. This statement directly contradicts the ECM data showing his cruise set at 64 mph.

Hopefully, Kaiser and his employer will be held accountable civilly for this easily avoidable crash

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