LRB-4046/1
TNF:skg:jlb
1995 - 1996 LEGISLATURE
November 21, 1995 - Introduced by Representatives Schneider, Dobyns, Hahn,
Huebsch, Otte, Ryba and Ziegelbauer, cosponsored by Senator Darling, by
request of Lieutenant Dave Laude, Wood County Sheriff's Department.
Referred to Committee on Highways and Transportation.
AB689,1,2
1An Act to amend 346.04 (3) of the statutes;
relating to: fleeing a traffic officer
2after receiving a visual or audible signal from a police vehicle.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, the operator of a vehicle who knowingly flees or attempts
to elude a traffic officer after receiving a visual or audible signal from either the
officer or a marked police vehicle must be fined not less than $300 nor more than
$2,000 and may be imprisoned for not more than 2 years. If the violation results in
bodily harm to another or causes damage to the property of another, the minimum
fine is increased to $500. If the violation results in great bodily harm to another, the
minimum fine is increased to $600. If the violation results in the death of another,
the fine is the same as for a violation that results in great bodily harm to another,
but the maximum term of imprisonment is increased to 5 years.
Current law also imposes upon the owner of a vehicle liability for fleeing a
traffic officer under certain circumstances. If the operator of a vehicle who has been
given an audible or visual signal by a traffic officer flees, the officer may pursue the
fleeing vehicle or, within 72 hours, prepare a traffic citation for the violation. Any
traffic officer employed by the issuing authority may serve it upon the owner of the
vehicle.
A forfeiture of not less than $300 nor more than $1,000 shall be imposed upon
the owner of a vehicle that is used to flee a traffic officer. The vehicle owner's
operating privilege may not be suspended or revoked, and no demerit points may be
recorded against the owner's operating record.
This bill provides that the violation of fleeing a traffic officer also applies to
knowingly fleeing or attempting to elude a traffic officer after receiving a visual or
audible signal from an unmarked police vehicle.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB689, s. 1
1Section
1. 346.04 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB689,2,82
346.04
(3) No operator of a vehicle, after having received a visual or audible
3signal from a traffic officer, or marked
or unmarked police vehicle, shall knowingly
4flee or attempt to elude any traffic officer by wilful or wanton disregard of such signal
5so as to interfere with or endanger the operation of the police vehicle, or the traffic
6officer or other vehicles or pedestrians, nor shall the operator increase the speed of
7the operator's vehicle or extinguish the lights of the vehicle in an attempt to elude
8or flee.
AB689,2,1110
(1) This act first applies to offenses committed on the effective date of this
11subsection.
