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.
344.36   Bond as proof.
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.
344.48   Forged proof.
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.
344.576   Damage waivers.
344.577   Advertisement or representation.
344.578   Credit card for deposit or damages.
344.579   Violations.
SUBCHAPTER VI
MANDATORY LIABILITY INSURANCE
344.61   Definitions.
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.
344.65   Violations.
344.66   Rules.
344.67   Notice.
subch. I of ch. 344 SUBCHAPTER I
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.
344.01 History History: 1971 c. 277; 1973 c. 90; 1977 c. 293; 1981 c. 284; 1985 a. 187; Sup. Ct. Order, 146 Wis. 2d xiii (1988); 1997 a. 27; 2001 a. 90; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 14; 2017 a. 13; 2019 a. 11.
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.
344.02(3) (3)Upon completion of the hearing, the department shall make findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a decision, and shall either proceed to order suspension of the person's operating privilege, or registrations, or both, and may also order the impoundment of the person's motor vehicle, in accordance with s. 344.14, or upon good cause appearing therefor, shall terminate the proceedings.
344.02(4) (4)The time during which enforcement of an order of suspension or impoundment is stayed pending completion of court review thereof shall not be included as part of the one-year period fixed by s. 344.18 (1) (d) for suspension or the period fixed under s. 344.185 (2) (a) or (b) for impoundment.
344.02 Annotation The hearing procedures under this section satisfy due process. A person's minimal property interest is balanced by the state's interest in the procedures, which carry little risk of an erroneous deprivation of property. Kopf v. State, 158 Wis. 2d 208, 461 N.W.2d 813 (Ct. App. 1990).
344.03 344.03 Judicial review.
344.03(1)(1)Any person aggrieved by a final decision of the department under this chapter may, at any time prior to 30 days after the entry of an order of suspension, revocation or impoundment, seek judicial review under ch. 227.
344.03(2) (2)If any person aggrieved by a decision of the department under this chapter fails to seek judicial review under ch. 227 within the time allowed in sub. (1), the circuit court may, upon the person's petition and notice to the department, and upon the terms and within a time as the court deems reasonable, but not later than one year after the act complained of or, in the case of an impoundment, after the vehicle has been ordered sold under s. 344.185 (2), allow a review with the same effect as though done within the time prescribed in sub. (1). This subsection does not authorize the court to stay suspension or revocation of an operator's license.
344.04 344.04 Power of court to stay suspension of registration or impoundment of vehicles.
344.04(1)(1)Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the secretary shall not suspend the registration of a vehicle when ordered not to do so by the court wherein the judgment for damages was had or, in a case not involving a judgment, when ordered not to do so by a court under petition of the registrant in accordance with sub. (2).
344.04(2) (2)Upon receiving information, other than of a judgment for damages in a court of this state, that would be cause for suspension of registration or impoundment of the vehicle, the secretary shall notify the registrant of the intention to suspend such registration or impound the vehicle. The registrant may thereupon petition any court of record in the registrant's county for an order enjoining the secretary's contemplated action, whereupon the judge of such court shall grant an order restraining the secretary in the matter until the petition is finally determined by the court. If such petition and order are served upon the secretary within 10 days after the date of the secretary's notice or in any event before the secretary has suspended the registration or impounded the vehicle, the secretary shall await the final determination of the court. The secretary shall be given notice of the hearing. Upon a showing that it would result in undue hardship upon the petitioner to have any such registration suspended or the vehicle impounded, the court shall issue an order restraining the secretary from suspending the registration or impounding the vehicle.
344.04(3) (3)This section does not authorize a court to stay suspension or revocation of an operator's license.
344.05 344.05 Courts to report nonpayment of certain judgments.
344.05(1)(1)If a judgment of $500 or more for damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident is not satisfied within 30 days after its having become final by expiration without appeal of the time within which an appeal might have been taken or by final affirmation on appeal, the clerk of the court in which the judgment was rendered, or the judge if the court has no clerk, shall immediately forward to the secretary a certified copy of the judgment upon request of the judgment creditor or the attorney of record for the judgment creditor.
344.05(2) (2)If the defendant named in any certified copy of a judgment reported to the secretary is a nonresident, the secretary shall transmit a certified copy of the judgment to the official in charge of the issuance of licenses and registration certificates of the state of which the defendant is a resident.
344.05 History History: 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (7) (c); 1981 c. 20; Sup. Ct. Order, 146 Wis. 2d xiii (1988); 1997 a. 84.
344.07 344.07 Responsibility law not to prevent other process. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as preventing the plaintiff in any action at law from relying for relief upon the other processes provided by law.
344.08 344.08 Suspension for failure to report accident.
344.08(1)(1)The secretary may suspend the operating privilege or registration of any person who fails to report an accident as required by s. 346.70 or to give correctly the information requested by the secretary in connection with such report unless, in the judgment of the secretary, there was excusable cause for such failure or unless the accident did not result in injury or damage to the person or property of anyone other than the person so required to report.
344.08(2) (2)Any operating privilege suspended or revoked under this section, or suspended or revoked under any other section for failure to report an accident, shall be reinstated in accordance with s. 344.09 at the end of one year following the effective date of the suspension or revocation order if, during such one-year period, no notice of action has been filed with the department in the manner specified in s. 344.18 (1) (d).
344.08 History History: 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (7) (a), (c); 1979 c. 258; 1991 a. 269; 1997 a. 84.
344.09 344.09 Reinstatement of operating privilege and registration.
344.09(1)(1)Whenever the secretary is satisfied that the reason for suspending or revoking an operating privilege under this chapter has been removed, including satisfaction of any of the requirements of s. 344.18, the secretary shall order reinstatement of the operating privilege. The department shall give notice of the reinstatement to the person whose operating privilege was suspended or revoked in the manner it deems appropriate. The order reinstating a suspended operating privilege has the same effect as an automatic reinstatement under s. 343.39.
344.09(2) (2)Whenever an operating privilege suspended or revoked under this chapter is reinstated, any registration that was suspended or revoked along with the operating privilege is reinstated and the department shall return any surrendered and unexpired registration plate in its possession.
344.09(3) (3)Nothing in this section exempts a person from the applicable reinstatement fees under s. 341.36 or 343.21 or from complying with applicable provisions of s. 343.38.
subch. II of ch. 344 SUBCHAPTER II
SECURITY FOR PAST ACCIDENTS
Loading...
Loading...
2021-22 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2023 Wis. Act 93 and through all Supreme Court and Controlled Substances Board Orders filed before and in effect on March 22, 2024. Published and certified under s. 35.18. Changes effective after March 22, 2024, are designated by NOTES. (Published 3-22-24)