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As a service to the local communities in Wisconsin and Illinois, current news regarding motor vehicle accidents, class action law suits, product recalls, and current biker news and events is frequently posted here.
Bookmark and visit this page often to read the latest news.
Please contact Hupy and Abraham, S.C. if you or a family member has been injured.
Bruce Y. Yang, 25, was heard in court Tuesday on charges resulting from a high-speed crash back in November, seriously injuring him and a passenger. He was charged Thursday with second degree reckless endangerment and faces up to five years in prison.
When Yang pulled away from a stoplight on South Business Drive, at the Union Avenue intersection, the squealing tires caught the attention of a police officer a few cars back.
With activated lights and siren, the officer chased the Honda Civic heading south towards Ashland Avenue and then east to South 18th Street. On 18th Street, the police officer lost sight of the fleeing Honda and gave up the pursuit.
A few minutes later, a radio message informed the police officer that a crash had just happened at 18th Street and Garfield Avenue. Arriving at the scene, the officer recognized the Honda as the one he had chased. According to investigators, Yang had been traveling at 92 mph. in a 25-mph. zone, and lost control of his car when crossing railroad tracks. The Honda went airborne, rolled 30 degrees clockwise and landed sideways on the pavement, skidding over 216 feet before hitting a parked Chevrolet Impala. The impact pushed the Impala some 20 feet into the roadway. The Honda ended its course striking a tree and coming to a stop on a lawn.
The crash occurred on November 12 at about 7.30 p.m. Bruce Yang was airlifted to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee with serious injuries, while his passenger, Michael L. Yang, 21, of Sheboygan suffered facial fractures. Both cars were totaled.
Kelly Duke, 17, stole his uncle’s red Chevrolet Malibu on Sunday, January 1, at around 6 a.m. and took off at high speed, driving under the influence. Traveling northbound on 27th Street and arriving at the intersection with West St. Paul Avenue, where a silver Nissan Maxima was waiting at the red light, Duke lost control of the Malibu. The car struck a concrete island on the southeast corner of the intersection, went airborne and landed on the Nissan, sheering off the car’s top.
Ed and Jean Thaves had just left Potawatomi Casino, ready to enter the interstate on their way back home to New Berlin. Edward Thaves was 61 years old and the owner of a chemical company in Muskego. His wife, Jean M. Thaves, 52, also worked at the company. They died instantly when Duke hit their car.
When police came to the scene of the crash, they found Kelly Duke’s brother who told them his brother had been driving. Kelly Duke had fled the scene on foot but police arrested him later at his home.
Kelly Duke was charged Wednesday with seven felonies, including two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle. He is held in the Milwaukee County jail with a $110,000 bail.
The attorneys of Hupy and Abraham send their most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Jean and Edward Thaves.
Police Officer Frank Vrtochnik, 37, of Sheboygan, was hit by a car at about 5.15 p.m. on Christmas Day at the intersection of South 17th Street and West Windlake Avenue in Milwaukee. Vrtochnik was standing next to his squad car when a mid-sized sedan headed towards him, the car jumped the curb and the hit the officer while he was trying to get out of the way.
The car took off and witnesses called the emergency services. Vrtochnik was transported to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee in critical condition, later described as stable, then improving.
The Milwaukee police issued a call for witnesses and set up a tip line while advertising extensively the accident, the car, damage description and the search for the culprit.
Thursday, a 19-year-old man, Juan C. Alvarado, was arrested and charged with felony counts of first-degree recklessly injury and recklessly endangering safety. If convicted, the suspect could be sentenced to a maximum of 22 years in prison.
Police found Alvaro’s car, a 1998 Chevrolet Malibu, on Wednesday in a garage in the 1500 block of West Becher Street. A resident, noticing the car parked in a space he rented, then filed a complaint. The damage to the car was consistent with the debris found on the accident scene, and police found traces of blood, skin and hair on the windshield.
The attorneys of Hupy & Abraham wish Officer Frank Vrtochnik a speedy and full recovery.
Christopher Leurquin was driving northwards on Wisconsin 26 when he lost control of his vehicle on a curve and ended up in the southbound lanes. Leurquin collided with a southbound car driven by Thea Mojzych, aged 22, of Streator, IL.
39-year-old Leurquin of De Pere and Mojzych were pronounced dead at the scene. Rodrick Harris, 22, of Oak Park, IL was airlifted in a Flight for Life helicopter to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, and later transferred to University Hospital in Madison. His condition was critical as of Sunday afternoon.
The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office reported that the crash occurred Saturday night, just before 11 p.m. north of Willow Creek Road in Waupun, and added that speed and alcohol were not involved in the accident.
Wisconsin State Patrol, Waupun Fire Department, Brooks Ambulance and Brandon-Fairwater Police Department all responded to the scene. Highway 26 remained closed for about three hours.
Even though Highway 26 has been upgraded in recent years, the Sheriff’s Office still routinely patrols Highway 26 in western Fond du Lac County because of a string of accidents, dense traffic and frequent speeding violations.
The attorneys of Hupy & Abraham wish to express their warmest sympathy to the family and friends of Thea Mojzych and Christopher Leurquin.
A decade of investigations of distracted driving accidents has led the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to urge states to make cell phone use by drivers illegal. This far-reaching recommendation is not based on past accidents caused by distraction, but on the exponential growth of electronic devices used in cars.
Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the NTSB, recently declared: ”Every year, new devices are being released. People are tempted to update their Facebook page, or to tweet, as if sitting at a desk, but they are driving a car.” The NTSB also stated that "drivers faced serious risks from talking on wireless headsets, just as they do by taking a hand off the wheel to hold a phone to their ear."
Hersman is aware that the NTSB recommendation is not going to make them popular, but she compares distracted driving to drunken driving, and says a complete shift in attitude will be needed to bring down the alarming rate of accidents caused by distraction.
Today, nine states ban the use of cell phones while driving, and 35 states ban texting while driving. While the immediate reaction to the NTSB’s recommendation was that it stood no chance of being passed into law, safety and transportation observers agree that a rapid shift in mindset could be achieved, following the lead of some states.
Halee Ludowise-Fischer and Jennifer Geren, both aged 15, were traveling east on West Good Hope Road at about 1:00 a.m. on Saturday. Ludowise-Fischer was behind the wheel of her mother’s car, a 2009 Mitsubishi. When the vehicle passed in front of a River Hills police cruiser, the officer noticed that a taillight was out, activated his warning lights and followed the Mitsubishi.
The Mitsubishi accelerated and ran through two red lights at which point the police officer decided to slow down and turn off his emergency lights. He saw sparks flying at a distance when the Mitsubishi struck a transformer. The Mitsubishi continued at a high speed for another half a minute when the driver lost control of the car and crossed to the westbound lanes, striking a stop sign on the corner at North Seneca Avenue. The car rolled over and ended up against a tree.
The police officer called the North Shore Fire Department emergency crews to the rescue, who immediately proceeded to extricate the victims. Having sustained severe head injuries, both girls were pronounced dead at the scene.
Ludowise-Fischer’s father later told investigators that his daughter was supposed to be housesitting at her mother’s home.
The Wisconsin accident attorneys of Hupy & Abraham send their most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Halee Ludowise-Fischer and Jennifer Geren in these tragic moments.
In a recent publication, the American Automobile Association (AAA) revealed that the cost of crashes involving injuries or death was much higher than previously estimated, and is three times higher than the economic cost of traffic congestion.
The economic cost of traffic congestion is relatively easy to calculate, as a combination of fuel spent and time lost. Across the nation, the average commuter loses an estimated 34 hours of time every year. While Milwaukee commuters only lose an average of 27 hours per year, in the largest urban areas the yearly total can reach 74 lost hours with peak hours lasting up to six hours per day. Taken all together, the cost of the nation’s traffic congestion is estimated at some $100 billion a year. This amount may seem huge, but pales in comparison with the calculated cost of Wisconsin road accidents.
In its November 2011 update of a previous study, the AAA excluded accidents that resulted in “property damage only” and calculated the economic cost of auto accidents based on 11 factors:
10. Legal costs
11. Pain and suffering
With two million injuries and 30,000 fatalities per year, the economic cost based on the computing of these 11 factors amounts, for 439 urban areas in America, to $300 billion, three times the cost of traffic congestion. The calculated cost of traffic accidents would be even higher if rural communities had been included in the study.
If you have been injured in an auto accident in Wisconsin, contact the attorneys at Hupy and Abraham today.
Joshua Manderscheid, aged 17, of Fond du Lac, was traveling west on Winnebago Drive when he fell asleep behind the wheel and his minivan ran off the road at a curve, striking a tree. The crash sent Jordan Jacobson, 16, of Fond du Lac, flying from the back seat to the front, his head hitting the windshield.
Emergency crews extricated a passenger in the front seat, Cameron Jacobson, aged 17, also of Fond du Lac, in critical condition. The victim was taken by a Flight for Life helicopter to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah.
Another helicopter took Jordan Jacobson to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin-Fox Valley in Neenah, according to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office report.
Mandersheid was taken to St. Agnes Hospital with minor injuries and was later released. He had been wearing a seatbelt, whereas the two passengers were not restrained.
The accident occurred on Wednesday at 3.05 p.m. west of Sandy Beach Road. According to police officials, alcohol does not seem to be involved in the crash.
The Wisconsin accident attorneys of Hupy & Abraham wish Cameron and Jordan Jacobson a speedy and full recovery from the shock and terrible injuries sustained in this accident.
John P. French, 22, of Stevens Point, was driving an SUV southbound on Highway Z in Wood County. Approaching the intersection with highway 73, he failed to notice the stop sign and slammed into the car of Robert R. Walker, aged 32, of Saratoga. Walker was killed in the accident, which occurred at 2 p.m. on December 6, 2010. French was sending a message to his girlfriend when he caused the crash, and has been charged with first–degree reckless homicide.
Wood County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Shawn Becker says, “It is customary since the law passed that when we investigate a crash, we ask if a cell phone was in use.”
The Wisconsin law banning texting while driving became effective on December 1, 2010, but is difficult to prove a violation before an accident has occurred. Police officers need to see a person violating the law, but can’t really differentiate between someone who is dialing to talk, which is legal, and texting, which is not.
Some places, like Marshfield, have solved the problem by prohibiting the use of a cell phone altogether. More citations on cell phone use have been credited with fewer accidents due to drivers distracted while texting and reading messages.
Last year fourteen people were killed in deer crashes in Wisconsin, twice the number of deaths reported in 2009, according to the State's Department of Transportation.
The total number of collisions with deer went from 16,338 in 2009 to 16,947 in 2010, a slight increase, and out of proportion with the much higher increase in fatalities.
Wisconsin is now right in the middle of the most dangerous period for deer-related accidents, says Jeff Pritzl, district wildlife supervisor of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It is the deer mating season, and, "Deer will be on the move 24 hours a day in search of a receptive doe who is ready to breed," Pritzl added.
During the mating season, deer cross roads frequently, creating additional hazard for Wisconsin motorists. The way to avoid deer collisions is to drive slowly in forested areas, to keep the high headlight beams at night as often and as long as possible and above all, to keep everyone in the car securely restrained by seat belts.
If you see a deer cross the road in front of you, slow down your vehicle immediately to avoid other animals that may appear, as deer often move in groups.