Legal Question in Personal Injury in Wisconsin

Yes, it is true that in this situation, as in any other, both the driver and the owner could lose their driver's licenses and have their vehicle registrations suspended if they did not care enough to hire and attorney and properly defend themselves from the claim of the adverse driver resulting from this accident. However, if you did properly protect yourself in court and comply with all court damage awards, such an outcome would be unlikely. At worst, most parking lot accidents will result in a finding of shared responsibility for the damages, with a larger percentage of negligence likely to be assessed against the drivers of vehicles which were in motion at the time of the accident rather than parked ones. One grey area here, however, will be the status of a door being abruptly open, since this is technically a part of the vehicle which is being controlled by an operator (not necessarily the driver). A finding of negligence can result from abruptly opening a door without looking for oncoming vehicles, in the same fashion as failing to yield to oncoming vehicles that have the right of way. However, the same is true for the adverse driver who abruptly and potentially negligently, may have pulled up too close to the parked vehicle. If there is no insurance and you cannot afford to defend this claim, a bankruptcy might also save your driver�s license from revocation due to not having insurance at the time of the accident. You should therefore consult with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer in this event. My comments here are not intended as legal advice but are instead offered solely for public educational purposes. This answer does not create any attorney client relationship between us, although you are welcome to contact me at my Racine office for additional follow-up.