CHAPTER 344
VEHICLES — FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
SUBCHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
344.01 Words and phrases defined.
344.02 Hearing on suspension or impoundment.
344.04 Power of court to stay suspension of registration or impoundment of vehicles.
344.05 Courts to report nonpayment of certain judgments.
344.07 Responsibility law not to prevent other process.
344.08 Suspension for failure to report accident.
344.09 Reinstatement of operating privilege and registration.
SUBCHAPTER II
SECURITY FOR PAST ACCIDENTS
344.12 Applicability of provisions relating to deposit of security for past accidents.
344.13 Secretary to determine amount of security required following accident and to give notice thereof.
344.14 Suspension for failure to deposit security; impoundment of vehicle; exceptions.
344.15 Requirements as to policy or bond.
344.16 Requirements as to self-insurers.
344.17 Requirements as to form and amount of security.
344.18 Duration of suspension for failure to deposit security.
344.185 Duration of impoundment of motor vehicle; disposition.
344.19 Applicability to nonresidents, unlicensed drivers, unregistered motor vehicles and accidents in other states.
344.20 Custody, disposition and return of security.
344.21 Matters not to be evidence in civil suits.
SUBCHAPTER III
PROOF OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THE FUTURE
344.24 Applicability of sections relating to proof of financial responsibility for the future.
344.25 Suspension for nonpayment of judgment; exceptions.
344.26 Suspension after judgment for money damages.
344.27 Installment payment of judgments; suspension upon default.
344.29 Proof of financial responsibility for the future required.
344.30 Methods of giving proof of financial responsibility.
344.31 Certification of insurance as proof.
344.33 “Motor vehicle liability policy" defined.
344.34 Notice of cancellation or termination of certified policy.
344.35 This chapter not to affect other policies.
344.37 Money or securities as proof.
344.38 Owner and leasing company may give proof for others.
344.39 Substitution of proof.
344.40 Revocation or suspension for failure to maintain proof; other proof may be required.
344.41 Duration of proof; when proof may be canceled or returned.
344.42 Submission of certifications and recertifications by insurers.
SUBCHAPTER IV
PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF CHAPTER
344.45 Surrender of license and registration upon suspension.
344.46 Transfer of vehicle ownership to defeat purpose of chapter.
SUBCHAPTER V
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR RENTED AND HUMAN SERVICES VEHICLES
344.51 Financial responsibility for domestic rented or leased vehicles.
344.52 Financial responsibility for foreign rented vehicles.
344.55 Insurance for human service vehicles.
344.57 Definitions applicable to ss.
344.57 to
344.579.
344.572 Applicability to rental agreements.
344.574 Limited liability for damage.
344.577 Advertisement or representation.
344.578 Credit card for deposit or damages.
SUBCHAPTER VI
MANDATORY LIABILITY INSURANCE
344.62 Motor vehicle liability insurance required.
344.63 Exceptions to motor vehicle liability insurance requirement.
344.64 Fraudulent, false, or invalid proof of insurance.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
344.01
344.01
Words and phrases defined. 344.01(1)(1)
Words and phrases defined in ss.
340.01 and
343.01 are used in the same sense in this chapter unless a different definition is specifically provided.
344.01(2)
(2) In this chapter the following words and phrases have the designated meanings:
344.01(2)(a)
(a) “Judgment" means a judgment for damages rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction of any state or of the United States upon a cause of action arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of any motor vehicle, including damages for care and for loss of services because of bodily injury to or death of any person and damages because of injury to or destruction of property and the consequent loss of use thereof, which judgment has become final by expiration without appeal of the time within which an appeal might have been taken or by final affirmation on appeal. “Judgment" also includes a judgment rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction upon a cause of action on an agreement of settlement for damages of the type specified in this paragraph, which judgment has become final within the meaning of this paragraph.
344.01(2)(b)
(b) “Motor vehicle" means a self-propelled vehicle and also includes trailers and semitrailers designed for use with such vehicles, except that “motor vehicle" does not include farm tractors, well drillers, road machinery or snowmobiles.
344.01(2)(c)
(c) “Operator" means a person who is in actual or constructive physical control of a motor vehicle. It includes a person who has parked a motor vehicle. It includes the driver of a vehicle being pushed or towed and, in case there is no person actually doing the driving, the person who is doing the pushing or towing.
344.01(2)(cm)
(cm) Notwithstanding s.
340.01 (42), “owner" means, with respect to a vehicle that is registered, or is required to be registered, by a lessee of the vehicle under ch.
341, the lessee of the vehicle.
344.01(2)(d)
(d) “Proof of financial responsibility" or “proof of financial responsibility for the future" means proof of ability to respond in damages for liability on account of accidents occurring subsequent to the effective date of such proof, arising out of the maintenance or use of a motor vehicle in the amount of $25,000 because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident and, subject to that limit for one person, in the amount of $50,000 because of bodily injury to or death of 2 or more persons in any one accident and in the amount of $10,000 because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.
344.01(2)(e)
(e) “Registration" means, in the case of a person whose vehicle is registered under ch.
341, the registration so issued; in the case of a person whose vehicle is not so registered, it means the privilege to register a vehicle in Wisconsin and the reciprocal privilege granted a nonresident to operate in Wisconsin a vehicle not registered in Wisconsin.
344.01(2)(f)
(f) “State" means any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any province of the Dominion of Canada.
344.01(2)(g)
(g) “Vehicle" means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except vehicles used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks and except electric scooters, electric personal assistive mobility devices, and personal delivery devices.
344.02
344.02
Hearing on suspension or impoundment. 344.02(1)(1)
Whenever the department under s.
344.13 gives notice of the amount of security required to be deposited and that an order of suspension or impoundment will be made if such security is not deposited, it shall afford the person so notified an opportunity for a hearing on the proposed action, if written request for a hearing is received by the department prior to the date specified in the notice, or prior to the postponed effective date of suspension if postponement has been granted under s.
344.14 (1). Upon receipt of timely request for hearing, the department shall fix the time and place of the hearing and give notice thereof to such person by regular mail. The scope of the hearing is limited to the matter set forth in s.
344.14 (2) (k) and, subject to s.
344.14 (2m), to whether or not the person is the owner of the motor vehicle to be impounded. Any person who fails without reasonable cause to appear at the time and place specified in the notice shall forfeit the right to a hearing.
344.02(2)
(2) No law enforcement officer or other witness called by the person who has requested a hearing to testify on his or her behalf may be paid a witness fee by the department. No law enforcement officer called as a witness for the department may be paid any witness fee.
