595 people were killed in Wisconsin as a result of vehicle crashes in 2022. With a total of 128,830 crashes reported, the state's deaths-per-reported-accident rate is significantly lower than the national average.
Learn more about Wisconsin car accident laws if you were affected by a fatal car crash.
Distracted driving, speed and alcohol: these were the top factors contributing to crash fatalities in Wisconsin. In some cases, these categories had overlap (for example, one or all of the vehicles in the accident could have had a drunk driver who was speeding).
In 2022, if you were in a reported car accident, there was less than a 1% chance that the accident was deadly. In Wisconsin, all accidents involving $1,000 in property damage or resulting in need-of-medical care are legally required to be reported. Though some accidents beneath this threshold go unreported, many of them above it go unreported. In the decade before 2020, car accidents were one of the leading causes of death in Wisconsinites between 1 and 45 years old.
At least 450 people have died in Wisconsin each year since 2014: 451 in 2014, 513 in 2015, 524 in 2016, 539 in 2017, 517 in 2018, 511 in 2019, 540 in 2020, 581 in 2021, 595 in 2022, and 572 in 2023. The statistics of car accident fatalities in Wisconsin make clear that despite improvements in safety technology, car accidents are still a real risk for every Wisconsin driver.
Milwaukee County suffered 101 fatal crashes resulting in 111 deaths during 2022, according to Wisconsin DoT preliminary data. The numbers break down to show that about 0.4% of accidents claimed at least one life.
The same Wisconsin DoT data indicates a total of 1,921 motorcycle crashes were reported in the state during 2022. Of those, 78 crashes were fatal, killing a total of 80 people. That means about 4% of all motorcycle crashes resulted in at least one death, roughly 10 times the fatality rate as all reported vehicle crashes combined.
Impaired driving in Wisconsin contributed to 172 deaths in 2022, according to the DoT.
Drunk driving crashes are only a small fraction of all accidents in Wisconsin, but they tend to be some of the worst. Relatively speaking, when people drive drunk they have an incredibly high chance to kill someone.
Roughly 30% of fatal crashes in Wisconsin involved an impaired driver during 2022, and 172 people lost their lives as a result.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says heart disease is the leading cause of death in Wisconsin, totaling 12,791 in 2022.
Compare that to 595 crash deaths from the same year. Relatively speaking, your chances of dying from a crash are much lower compared to heart disease.
41 percent of 2022 Wisconsin car accident deaths occurred in 8 of Wisconsin's 72 counties:
Attorney’s note: Do not sign ANYTHING from the insurance company before talking to a lawyer if a loved one has suffered car accident fatalities or injuries. If your case isn’t prepared to go to trial, you get less compensation. Warshafsky employs attorneys who used to work for insurance companies, so we know that IS how they operate. Warshafsky car accident lawyers and motorcycle accident attorneys have recovered millions of dollars for victims and families. No fee until you win. Free consultations.
The most alarming 2022 statistics on car accident deaths in Wisconsin (and anywhere) revolve around the resources invested in denying, deferring, and defending against your injury claims. In 2021 there were 5,929 insurance companies in the US, pulling in 1.4 trillion in premiums. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, 314,300 people worked as claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators in 2021 with a median pay of $65,080 per year. Senior claims adjusters (like insurance company actuaries) often pull upwards of $100,000 per year. Insurance companies pay big money to protect themselves from wrongful death attorneys.
According to 24/7 Wall Street in 2021, 41 of the 50 drunkest counties in the US were in Wisconsin as well as 10 of the top 14 drunkest cities in the USA: Appleton (1), Sheboygan (3), Green Bay (4), Oshkosh-Neenah (5), Madison (6), Fond du Lac (7), La Crosse-Onalaska (9), Wausau-Weston (12), Eau Claire (13), Milwaukee-Waukesha (14). In Wisconsin, 23.5% of adults binge drink, the highest rate of any state, according to the CDC. In comparison, the national average of adults who drink excessively is almost 17%.
Despite receiving far looser penalties, speeding kills more Wisconsinites each year than drunk driving. There were 18,171 accidents with a speeding vehicle in 2022, which caused 157 deaths, according to preliminary reporting data. Speeding accidents are more frequent than drunk driving accidents though drunk driving accidents have a higher death rate. Though drunk driving tends to be more serious than speeding accidents on average, speeding is still a worse killer.
Other causes of accidents, like inattentive driving, statistics are incredibly hard to measure due to underreporting, but nationwide studies correlate cellphone usage with increased risk of an accident.
You need a fatal car accident law firm that will fight to get you the compensation you deserve.
| County | 2018 Accidents | 2018 Fatalities | 2019 Accidents | 2019 Fatalities | 2020 Accidents | 2020 Fatalities | 2021 Accidents | 2021 Fatalities | 2022 Accidents | 2022 Fatalities |
2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 476 | 2 | 436 | 3 | 371 | 5 | 412 | 1 | 354 | 8 | 8 |
| Ashland | 316 | 1 | 331 | 1 | 244 | 1 | 292 | 1 | 312 | 3 | 2 |
| Barron | 873 | 7 | 761 | 9 | 708 | 4 | 675 | 9 | 713 | 8 | 7 |
| Bayfield | 362 | 2 | 321 | 1 | 277 | 4 | 279 | 1 | 297 | 6 | 2 |
| Brown | 3,986 | 18 | 4,350 | 9 | 2,886 | 17 | 3,840 | 5 | 3,829 | 14 | 12 |
| Buffalo | 256 | 5 | 251 | 2 | 250 | 4 | 224 | 2 | 197 | 2 | 4 |
| Burnett | 308 | 6 | 292 | 9 | 254 | 3 | 268 | 5 | 242 | 2 | 5 |
| Calumet | 847 | 3 | 850 | 1 | 710 | 5 | 735 | 4 | 783 | 4 | 6 |
| Chippewa | 1,397 | 14 | 1,412 | 6 | 1,172 | 9 | 1,336 | 6 | 1,349 | 6 | 5 |
| Clark | 631 | 6 | 637 | 4 | 555 | 7 | 618 | 8 | 639 | 8 | 3 |
| Columbia | 1,504 | 11 | 1,472 | 9 | 1,379 | 14 | 1,508 | 14 | 1,585 | 10 | 7 |
| Crawford | 338 | 3 | 321 | 2 | 273 | 3 | 262 | 2 | 268 | 3 | 1 |
| Dane | 12,418 | 41 | 11,892 | 25 | 7,970 | 33 | 8,805 | 47 | 8,848 | 40 | 29 |
| Dodge | 1,756 | 8 | 1,722 | 13 | 1,539 | 8 | 1,545 | 15 | 1,677 | 11 | 11 |
| Door | 873 | 7 | 930 | 6 | 698 | 2 | 837 | 2 | 867 | 3 | 4 |
| Douglas | 867 | 3 | 960 | 4 | 672 | 4 | 876 | 6 | 933 | 7 | 5 |
| Dunn | 812 | 9 | 915 | 5 | 637 | 6 | 802 | 6 | 852 | 2 | 7 |
| Eau Claire | 2,899 | 5 | 3,269 | 2 | 1,950 | 10 | 2,310 | 6 | 2,413 | 4 | 8 |
| Florence | 114 | 3 | 95 | 0 | 82 | 4 | 95 | 1 | 115 | 2 | |
| Fond du Lac | 2,786 | 16 | 2,775 | 8 | 2,326 | 9 | 2,722 | 8 | 2,771 | 12 | 19 |
| Forest | 203 | 2 | 213 | 1 | 174 | 0 | 203 | 0 | 218 | 1 | 2 |
| Grant | 1,326 | 5 | 1,349 | 10 | 1,191 | 4 | 1,351 | 8 | 1,292 | 6 | 5 |
| Green | 848 | 3 | 901 | 4 | 753 | 3 | 769 | 7 | 764 | 3 | 7 |
| Green Lake | 454 | 0 | 441 | 3 | 338 | 3 | 315 | 2 | 313 | 1 | 1 |
| Iowa | 514 | 3 | 566 | 7 | 468 | 5 | 540 | 3 | 513 | 4 | 7 |
| Iron | 84 | 2 | 112 | 4 | 89 | 1 | 89 | 0 | 109 | 0 | 2 |
| Jackson | 644 | 6 | 611 | 4 | 506 | 1 | 563 | 4 | 566 | 7 | 3 |
| Jefferson | 1,962 | 13 | 1,901 | 6 | 1,720 | 9 | 1,848 | 11 | 1,800 | 8 | 12 |
| Juneau | 889 | 11 | 865 | 7 | 653 | 6 | 762 | 4 | 750 | 3 | 2 |
| Kenosha | 4,266 | 16 | 4,474 | 15 | 3,735 | 21 | 4,164 | 14 | 4,026 | 20 | 10 |
| Kewaunee | 450 | 0 | 439 | 1 | 365 | 5 | 335 | 2 | 364 | 1 | 1 |
| La Crosse | 3,776 | 9 | 3,882 | 5 | 2,585 | 4 | 3,217 | 8 | 3,614 | 6 | 5 |
| Lafayette | 597 | 3 | 575 | 0 | 464 | 1 | 459 | 4 | 459 | 1 | 6 |
| Langlade | 568 | 2 | 455 | 2 | 440 | 3 | 434 | 2 | 423 | 5 | 1 |
| Lincoln | 852 | 2 | 784 | 4 | 664 | 7 | 693 | 5 | 740 | 5 | 8 |
| Manitowoc | 2,189 | 8 | 2,329 | 15 | 1,957 | 10 | 2,100 | 10 | 2,083 | 11 | 14 |
| Marathon | 3,352 | 9 | 3,470 | 14 | 2,492 | 8 | 2,980 | 15 | 3,214 | 14 | 8 |
| Marinette | 980 | 10 | 997 | 7 | 856 | 3 | 943 | 9 | 871 | 5 | 6 |
| Marquette | 423 | 2 | 396 | 1 | 302 | 4 | 356 | 5 | 316 | 0 | 1 |
| Menominee | 27 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 1 |
| Milwaukee | 28,478 | 68 | 29,594 | 74 | 24,376 | 101 | 27,430 | 87 | 25,371 | 111 | 89 |
| Monroe | 1,526 | 6 | 1,426 | 6 | 1,197 | 5 | 1,175 | 10 | 1,198 | 6 | 5 |
| Oconto | 866 | 7 | 651 | 8 | 504 | 9 | 602 | 9 | 590 | 6 | 4 |
| Oneida | 1,007 | 6 | 972 | 7 | 810 | 6 | 771 | 2 | 910 | 3 | 7 |
| Outagamie | 4,344 | 12 | 4,692 | 16 | 3,277 | 9 | 3,928 | 16 | 4,360 | 10 | 10 |
| Ozaukee | 1,846 | 5 | 1,843 | 11 | 1,577 | 6 | 1,651 | 5 | 1,673 | 7 | 1 |
| Pepin | 125 | 2 | 105 | 0 | 103 | 3 | 93 | 1 | 118 | 2 | 2 |
| Pierce | 589 | 2 | 619 | 5 | 473 | 8 | 493 | 5 | 587 | 4 | 3 |
| Polk | 719 | 10 | 596 | 11 | 569 | 14 | 619 | 8 | 601 | 5 | 16 |
| Portage | 1,530 | 8 | 1,626 | 3 | 1,182 | 4 | 1,474 | 11 | 1,514 | 9 | 2 |
| Price | 205 | 2 | 188 | 3 | 190 | 3 | 201 | 1 | 200 | 2 | 2 |
| Racine | 5,356 | 20 | 5,172 | 17 | 4,171 | 23 | 4,373 | 6 | 4,405 | 20 | 19 |
| Richland | 469 | 1 | 461 | 0 | 344 | 2 | 401 | 3 | 389 | 4 | 3 |
| Rock | 4,558 | 31 | 4,346 | 23 | 3,636 | 25 | 4,043 | 31 | 3,653 | 17 | 12 |
| Rusk | 229 | 2 | 205 | 4 | 192 | 3 | 198 | 4 | 213 | 3 | 3 |
| Saint Croix | 2,436 | 8 | 2,523 | 13 | 2,258 | 9 | 2,412 | 10 | 2,503 | 10 | 14 |
| Sauk | 1,978 | 12 | 1,851 | 9 | 1,487 | 9 | 1,857 | 15 | 1,862 | 14 | 10 |
| Sawyer | 336 | 1 | 305 | 2 | 305 | 11 | 309 | 2 | 342 | 5 | 5 |
| Shawano | 1,481 | 4 | 1,547 | 5 | 1,305 | 5 | 940 | 9 | 666 | 8 | 4 |
| Sheboygan | 2,905 | 9 | 3,028 | 11 | 2,609 | 4 | 2,811 | 9 | 2,882 | 16 | 10 |
| Taylor | 445 | 5 | 391 | 3 | 392 | 1 | 470 | 6 | 412 | 1 | 3 |
| Trempealeau | 559 | 2 | 582 | 1 | 498 | 6 | 537 | 4 | 560 | 0 | 3 |
| Vernon | 955 | 4 | 824 | 1 | 478 | 1 | 433 | 5 | 516 | 5 | 5 |
| Vilas | 526 | 2 | 543 | 4 | 469 | 1 | 548 | 0 | 495 | 3 | 3 |
| Walworth | 2,322 | 7 | 2,332 | 15 | 2,040 | 12 | 2,232 | 10 | 2,381 | 12 | 12 |
| Washburn | 386 | 0 | 356 | 4 | 300 | 2 | 333 | 2 | 351 | 1 | 2 |
| Washington | 3,680 | 10 | 3,548 | 12 | 3,041 | 4 | 3,349 | 10 | 3,543 | 11 | 15 |
| Waukesha | 8,589 | 25 | 8,681 | 18 | 6,638 | 16 | 7,694 | 18 | 7,946 | 20 | 26 |
| Waupaca | 1,361 | 6 | 1,251 | 11 | 782 | 7 | 799 | 9 | 783 | 5 | 6 |
| Waushara | 582 | 5 | 585 | 2 | 480 | 7 | 561 | 8 | 533 | 3 | 9 |
| Winnebago | 4,208 | 13 | 4,216 | 11 | 3,216 | 10 | 3,693 | 10 | 3,790 | 11 | 12 |
| Wood | 1,393 | 5 | 1,450 | 10 | 1,075 | 16 | 1,270 | 6 | 1,282 | 6 | 7 |
| Total | 144,212 | 576 | 145,288 | 550 | 114,697 | 594 | 128,296 | 595 | 128,143 | 596 | 572 |
|
Data for Wisconsin car accidents & vehicle deaths by county from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation *2024 fatality statistics are year-to-date as of January 11, 2024 |
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Wisconsin's deer related crash fatalities were 11 (in 2017), 9 (2018), 4 (2019), 9 (2020), 13 (2021), and 5 (2022), according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. That is an average of 8.5 deaths per year, 83% of which are motorcycle crashes.
Per Wisconsin Department of Transportation stats retrieved in 2022, the 5 year average of deer crashes is 19,777. This presumably does not include many unreported incidences of deer hit by cars.
Per 2022 Wisconsin DOT statistics, last year 5 motorcyclists were killed in a deer related crash. 9 were killed in 2021. 11 were killed in 2020. 8 were killed in 2019.
Per 2022 Wisconsin DOT statistics, the last 5 years have averaged 198 deer related crashes, including 173 injuries, and 7.4 human deaths.
In 2022, Wisconsin saw an average of 1350 deer related crashes every month. The worst months are: 1. November (about 3,200 crashes or 237% of the average) 2. October (about 2,350 crashes or 174% of the average), 3. June (about 1,650 crashes or 122% of the average).
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