What To Know If You Were Injured In A Crash On Highway 16 Near La Crosse Or Onalaska, Wisconsin

By Attorney Howard Eglash

What should you do if you are injured in a crash on Highway 16 near La Crosse or Onalaska and suddenly find yourself dealing with medical care, vehicle damage, police reports, and calls from insurance companies?

The first hours after a crash often center on immediate needs. You may need medical treatment. Your vehicle may need to be towed. Law enforcement may ask what happened. Soon afterward, an insurance adjuster may begin requesting information before you know how serious your injuries are or how long recovery will take.

A Highway 16 crash near La Crosse or Onalaska can also involve traffic conditions and intersections unique to this busy local corridor. WisDOT is currently studying portions of WIS 16 between La Crosse and Onalaska to address safety, traffic operations, and future infrastructure needs.

Knowing what information to preserve, how Wisconsin handles disputed fault, and what to consider when dealing with insurance can help you make more informed decisions after a crash.

What Should You Do Immediately After A Highway 16 Crash?

If someone is injured, the immediate priority is health and safety.

WisDOT advises drivers to call 911 when someone is hurt. If there are no injuries and the vehicles remain drivable, Wisconsin’s “Steer It, Clear It” law generally requires drivers to move the vehicles to a location where they obstruct traffic as little as possible. If someone is injured or a vehicle cannot be moved safely, drivers should not create another risk by attempting to move a disabled vehicle themselves.

Once immediate safety concerns are addressed, useful information may include:

• The other driver’s name, contact information, driver’s license information, and insurance information
• Photographs of vehicle damage and the crash location
• Photographs of visible injuries
• Names and contact information for witnesses
• The direction each vehicle was traveling
• The lane each vehicle occupied
• Traffic signals, signs, road markings, or nearby intersections that may matter
• Medical records, bills, prescriptions, and treatment instructions
• Information about missed work or work restrictions

Avoid putting yourself in danger to collect photographs or other evidence along a busy roadway.

Does A Highway 16 Injury Crash Need To Be Reported?

An injury crash in Wisconsin is reportable.

WisDOT states that crashes must be reported when they result in an injury, at least $1,000 in damage to a person’s vehicle or property, or at least $200 in damage to government property. If law enforcement responds, an officer may complete the crash report. If law enforcement does not file the required report, a driver may need to complete Wisconsin’s Driver Report of Crash.

A crash report can become an important part of the record, but it does not necessarily answer every question about legal responsibility. Insurance companies may review statements from the drivers and witnesses, vehicle damage, photographs, video, road evidence, and other information when evaluating what happened.

Why Does The Highway 16 Location Matter?

Highway 16 connects La Crosse and Onalaska through an area with major intersections, commercial development, connecting roads, and changing traffic patterns.

WisDOT is currently conducting a WIS 16 Corridor Study covering the route from the WIS 16/Losey Boulevard intersection to the WIS 16/WIS 157 intersection. The study is examining safety, traffic operations, and infrastructure needs through 2050.

WisDOT’s analysis of crashes along the study corridor from 2015 through 2019 identified 854 crashes, including 646 at intersections. Rear-end crashes accounted for 74 percent of the crashes during that study period. Those figures are historical and should not be treated as current annual crash totals, but they help explain why intersections, stopping traffic, merging, and turning movements remain part of WisDOT’s review of the corridor.

For someone injured in a particular crash, those corridor statistics do not determine fault. What matters is what happened in that collision, including the actions of the drivers, traffic controls, vehicle damage, witness accounts, photographs, video, and other available evidence.

Who May Be Responsible For A Highway 16 Crash?

Responsibility depends on what happened.

A collision might involve a driver who followed too closely, failed to yield, changed lanes unsafely, entered an intersection improperly, drove too fast for conditions, or became distracted.

Other crashes may involve several drivers whose actions need to be evaluated separately.

A careful investigation may consider:

• Driver and witness statements
• Police crash reports
• Vehicle damage
• Photographs and video
• Dash camera footage
• Nearby surveillance footage when available
• Traffic signals and lane configurations
• Electronic information from the vehicles when relevant
• Medical documentation connecting the collision to the injuries

Bosshard Parke’s personal injury practice evaluates evidence, potentially responsible parties, insurance coverage, and the effect an injury has on a person’s health, work, finances, and daily life.

What If The Other Driver Says You Caused The Crash?

Being accused of causing the crash does not automatically prevent you from having a Wisconsin personal injury claim.

Wisconsin follows a comparative negligence rule. Under Wisconsin Statute § 895.045, an injured person’s own negligence does not necessarily prevent recovery if it is not greater than the negligence of the person from whom recovery is sought. Any damages allowed are generally reduced based on the injured person’s percentage of negligence. When several people may share responsibility, the analysis can become more complicated.

For example, one driver may claim another vehicle changed lanes without enough room. The other driver may say traffic stopped suddenly or the first vehicle was following too closely. An insurance company’s initial conclusion about fault does not by itself establish what happened.

Photographs, witness statements, video, vehicle damage, road markings, traffic signals, and other evidence may all become important when the drivers disagree about how a Highway 16 crash occurred.

What If Your Injuries Do Not Seem Serious At First?

The severity of an injury is not always clear at the crash scene.

Some people feel immediate pain. Others notice symptoms later after the initial stress of the collision has passed. Medical evaluation serves an important purpose because a health care provider can assess symptoms, recommend treatment, and create a medical record of the condition.

Bosshard Parke has addressed this issue in our guidance about medical care after a car accident. The focus should remain on your health rather than trying to predict whether an injury will become part of an insurance claim.

If treatment continues, keep records related to appointments, restrictions, prescriptions, physical therapy, specialist visits, and other care. Employment records may also become relevant if an injury causes missed work or limits normal job duties.

How Should You Handle Insurance After A Highway 16 Crash?

Insurance questions often begin shortly after the collision.

Your insurer and another driver’s insurer may request information about the crash. An adjuster may ask for a statement, medical information, photographs, or other documents. Someone may also receive a settlement offer while treatment is still underway.

Providing accurate information is important. So is understanding who is requesting the information and why.

An injured person may not yet know whether treatment is complete, whether additional care will be necessary, how much work will be missed, or whether symptoms will continue. Those uncertainties can matter when evaluating a settlement that requires signing a release.

Insurance coverage can also become more complicated if the at-fault driver has no insurance or insufficient liability coverage. Depending on the policy and circumstances, the injured person’s own automobile coverage may become relevant.

Bosshard Parke has additional information about dealing with insurance after a Wisconsin car accident, including adjuster communications, medical information, and settlement questions.

Wisconsin also requires motorists to maintain minimum automobile liability coverage. Current WisDOT minimums include $25,000 for injury or death to one person, $50,000 for injury or death to more than one person, and $10,000 for property damage. Those minimum amounts do not necessarily reflect the amount of insurance available in a particular crash.

What If The Crash Involved A Commercial Truck Or Work Vehicle?

A collision involving a commercial vehicle may require a broader investigation than a typical two-car crash.

Depending on the circumstances, questions may involve the driver, employer, motor carrier, vehicle owner, maintenance records, insurance policies, or other businesses connected to the vehicle.

Certain records may also exist only for a limited period of time.

Bosshard Parke’s truck accident practice evaluates driver information, carrier records, insurance coverage, maintenance materials, and other evidence when those issues are relevant to a commercial vehicle collision.

A crash involving someone who was working at the time of the collision may also raise workers’ compensation questions in addition to a possible claim against another driver. The availability of either type of claim depends on the circumstances.

What Compensation May Be Available After An Injury Crash?

A Wisconsin personal injury claim may involve several types of losses, depending on the injuries and evidence.

These may include medical expenses, future medical needs supported by the evidence, lost income, reduced earning ability, pain and suffering, and other losses caused by the collision.

The value of a claim should not be reduced to a formula based only on medical bills.

A broken bone requiring surgery affects someone differently from a soft-tissue injury that resolves after treatment. An injury that prevents a person from returning to the same occupation presents different questions from one that causes a short absence from work.

The appropriate evaluation depends on the medical evidence, work history, insurance coverage, responsibility for the crash, and the long-term effect of the injury.

How Long Do You Have To File A Wisconsin Car Accident Injury Claim?

Wisconsin Statute § 893.54 generally provides three years to bring an action for personal injuries arising from a motor vehicle accident.

The statute also generally provides a two-year limitation period for a wrongful death action arising from a motor vehicle accident.

That does not mean the same deadline applies in every situation. Different rules or additional notice requirements may apply depending on who was involved and the type of claim. Claims involving a governmental entity, for example, can raise additional procedural requirements.

There is also a practical reason not to treat the statute of limitations as a timetable for gathering information. Surveillance footage may be overwritten, witnesses may become harder to locate, vehicles may be repaired, and other evidence may change or disappear well before a filing deadline.

An attorney can evaluate the circumstances of the crash and help determine which deadlines or notice requirements may apply.

When Does It Make Sense To Speak With A Personal Injury Attorney?

Not every Highway 16 crash requires an attorney.

Legal guidance may become more useful when a person suffers a significant injury, treatment continues for an extended period, fault is disputed, the insurer requests extensive information, a commercial vehicle is involved, multiple parties may share responsibility, or a settlement is proposed before the medical picture is clear.

Attorney Howard J. Eglash has more than 35 years of legal experience and represents individuals and families in personal injury matters, including motor vehicle collisions. He is admitted to practice in Wisconsin and Minnesota and previously served as President of the La Crosse County Bar Association.

What Should You Remember After A Highway 16 Crash?

A Highway 16 crash near La Crosse or Onalaska can raise medical, insurance, and legal questions at the same time.

Focus first on health and immediate safety. Keep useful records. Understand that an insurer’s initial view of fault does not necessarily settle the issue. Avoid assuming an early settlement reflects the full effect of an injury before treatment and recovery are better understood.

The details of every collision are different. This article provides general educational information and does not constitute legal advice.

Speak With A Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney

If you or a family member was injured in a crash on Highway 16 near La Crosse, Onalaska, or elsewhere in Western Wisconsin, Bosshard Parke can help you understand the insurance, liability, evidence, and legal issues that may apply to your circumstances.

Learn more about Bosshard Parke’s personal injury and car accident representation or contact the firm through its La Crosse or Sparta offices.