Every day people disregard Wisconsin's Rules of the Road and drive dangerously. Unfortunately, it is all too common for people to be injured or killed in automobile crashes. Most often, people are injured when they are rear-ended by another vehicle; when they are t-boned in an intersection because another vehicle ran a red light or a stop sign, or when they are hit head-on by another vehicle that has crossed the center lane. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, there were 125,174 automobile crashes in 2005. To put this number in perspective, the DOT states that there is one crash every 4.2 minutes; one injury every 9.8 minutes; and one fatality every 10.9 hours. High speed is a frequent cause of these crashes, causing one crash every 45.2 minutes, as is drunk driving, causing one crash every 83 minutes. These are not "accidents." Rather, and according to the DOT, every one of these crashes was avoidable.

A sample of Cannon & Dunphy's previous results in Automobile Collision cases:

• $12 million awarded in a motor vehicle accident to two families after an illegally overloaded cement truck ran a red light striking their car, causing the death of the driver and serious permanent brain injuries to the passenger.

• $10 million awarded to a Michigan family of a 37 year-old married mother of two after a Waste Management truck ran a stop sign and stuck her van, causing her death. 

• $5.25 million was awarded to the family of a woman involved in an automobile accident. A car making a wide turn came into contact with a school bus, causing it to crash into a van operated by the plaintiff. The plaintiff suffered severe brain damage confining her to a nursing home for remainder of her life.

• $4.525M settlement for wrongful deaths and injuries caused by a tractor trailer that lost control on slippery pavement on Hwy 41, north of West Bend, WI.

• $2.5 million awarded to surviving family members and injured spouse in an auto accident in which the defendant vehicle crossed over the center line causing the death of driver and serious leg injuries to the spouse.

• $1.7 million awarded to family whose four month old daughter was killed when the driver of a semi-truck fell asleep at the wheel, causing the truck to strike the car in which the baby was a rear seat belted passenger.

• $1.125 million settlement for adult children of parents killed in truck collision. The parents were 49 years old at time of death. There was no evidence of conscious pain and suffering for either parent. Wisconsin law capped non-economic damages at $150,000 per death claim. The bulk of the claim was for lost inheritance.

• $1.09 million awarded to a 23-year-old who sustained spinal cord and brain injuries when a truck crossed over a highway center line and collided with his vehicle.

• $1.075 million insurance policy limits settlement for injuries caused by truck driver's failure to obey a stop sign.