Reporting a bad driver in Wisconsin

Wisconsin bad driver reporting & safety guide

1. If it is happening now immediate danger

Emergency hotlines

• 911 — for a driver who is an active danger to other people right now. That is a police matter, and no app is a substitute for the call.
• No Wisconsin-specific line is listed here. We publish a patrol code only when a state police or DOT page carries it.

2. Reporting to Wisconsin law enforcement after the fact

Neither the hotlines above nor anything in this section is the licence-review route in section 3, and nothing filed on Jerk Alert reaches any of them.

Who takes the report in Wisconsin

• The non-emergency line of the Wisconsin city, village or town police department or county sheriff’s office with jurisdiction where it happened takes reports of dangerous driving that has already happened.
• Bring: the plate (full or partial) and state, the vehicle’s make, model and colour, the location, the date and time, the direction of travel, and what you saw.
• Expect a record rather than a ticket. An officer who did not witness the driving usually cannot cite for it, and what each agency acts on varies.

3. State DMV & licensing agency review

Administrative fitness process

Agency

Wisconsin Department of Transportation, DMV

Unit

Medical Review

Form

MV3141 — Driver Condition or Behavior Report

Where to send

Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Medical Review, PO Box 7918, Madison WI 53707-7918 — the “Submit to” block printed on the form

Contact

(608) 266-2327 · dmvmedical@dot.wi.gov · fax (608) 267-0518

What information do I need to report a driver?

• Complete side 1 only — it is headed "LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PRIVATE CITIZEN Complete this side only"; side 2 is reserved for a health care professional.
• Identify the driver. The DMV's own instruction to citizens is to identify them with at least the driver's name and date of birth; the form adds that "Positive driver identification must be established. License plate number only is not sufficient", so a plate on its own will not start a review in Wisconsin.
• Tick the conditions that apply. The tick-list runs from physical and mental/emotional conditions, blackouts and defective vision to lack of knowledge of traffic laws, obstructing traffic and alcohol or other drugs.
• Report only what you know firsthand. The form says “DMV will not accept hearsay or second-hand information”, and asks for dates, places, accident reports, whether Emergency Medical Personnel were at the scene, and anything else supporting the Department's action.
• If the report is completed by private citizens or family members, the full name, address and signature of a second or additional person who can verify the information is REQUIRED — a signature verifies the information to be true and correct. A single-signature citizen report is rejected. Reports from a law enforcement officer or a licensed healthcare professional use their own sections and do not need a second signature.
• Advanced age alone cannot be considered good cause. Under Wis. Stat. § 343.16 the DMV cannot start a re-examination on the strength of a driver's age, so set out specific incidents, impairments or behaviours instead.
• Return the report by email, fax or mail, using the contact information printed on the form.

Will the driver find out who reported them?

Not anonymous, and the form warns you itself: printed on the citizen's side of MV3141 is "This information may be subject to Wisconsin's Open Records Law." The DMV puts it plainly on its own page for citizens — Wisconsin has an Open Records Law, which means that reported information on behaviour is available to the reported driver. The back of the same form draws the contrast: the health care professional's side "is not subject to Wisconsin's Open Records Law; it is, however, available to the driver upon request." So the clinician's half is shielded from public records and still reachable by the driver, while the half you fill in carries no such shield. If you have good reason for maintaining confidentiality and will not provide the information otherwise, you may request a Pledge of Confidentiality (MV3454) — and four things about it matter before you count on it. It must be signed by a WisDOT representative BEFORE they receive the driver's identifying information: anything you provided beforehand, anything not listed in the pledge, and any later information not covered by a pledge is not confidential. The WisDOT representative decides whether a pledge is necessary — you have to state on the form why you will not give the information without one. A court of competent jurisdiction could order the release of information otherwise held in confidence under it. And the DMV is explicit that confidentiality is not anonymity: it will still know your identity as the source, and withholds it from the driver only to the extent the law permits. Note too that the two-signature rule means a second person's name, address and telephone number go on the form beside yours.

What can the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, DMV do after a report?

• The DMV uses the information in your report to decide what action to take. If there is a medical concern it will ask the driver to file a report to verify medical eligibility; if there is an operating concern it will usually ask the driver to retake driving tests. A licence is never cancelled based on your report alone.
• WisDOT may request an additional medical report from a physician or other health care professional, or require the driver to retest.
• Where a health care professional completes the back of the form, answering “No” to “Is this patient able to safely operate a motor vehicle at this time?” results in immediate cancellation of all licence classes and endorsements — the form states that the department cannot test a person who is deemed medically unsafe.
• Where the clinician answers “Yes”, they may still recommend a complete re-examination of the driver's ability (the knowledge, sign and skills tests), recommend restrictions — the form lists continuous oxygen use, daylight driving only, corrective lenses, no freeway or interstate highway, and a limit of so many miles from home — or recommend further medical evaluation.

Statutory authority: Wis. Stat. § 343.16 — the “Good Cause” provision the form cites for Departmental action. The form prints one further limit on its own face: “Positive driver identification must be established. License plate number only is not sufficient.”

What this route can and cannot do

Wisconsin is one of the few states whose process covers observed driving behaviour and not only medical impairment — but it is still a fitness-to-drive referral: it asks for the driver’s name and date of birth, which a plate number does not give you, and its remedy is a competence re-test that a capable but aggressive driver passes.