Wisconsin license plate reports

Recent reports in Wisconsin

Newest first. Hidden and deleted reports are excluded. Get the app to see reports near you as they are filed.

How to report a bad driver in Wisconsin

If it is happening now

Call 911. A driver who is an active danger to other people is a police matter, and no app is a substitute for that call. Do not follow the vehicle, and do not try to get closer to read the plate.

After the fact

Your local police department’s non-emergency line takes reports of dangerous driving that has already happened. What each agency will act on varies, and a report generally needs the plate, the location, the time, and what you saw.

The licensing agency in Wisconsin

What the report has to contain

• Anyone with direct knowledge of a driver's ability or medical impairments may file MV3141.
• Identify the driver with at least a name and date of birth, and describe firsthand observations in detail.
• 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.

What happens to your name

Wisconsin has an open records law, so the reported driver can find out who filed. If you have good reason to remain anonymous you may request a Pledge of Confidentiality (MV3454) — but it must be signed in the presence of a DMV representative, and the DMV still knows your identity and withholds it only as far as the law permits.

What the agency can do

• WisDOT may request an additional medical report from a physician or other health care professional, or require the driver to retest.
• The DMV can immediately cancel a licence based on a report from a health care provider.

What this route is, and is not

This is a fitness-to-drive referral, not a bad-driving complaint. It is built around a medical, cognitive or physical condition, and it asks for the driver’s name and date of birth — which a witness holding only a plate number does not have. Reporting a stranger who tailgated you is not what this channel is for.

Reporting it on Jerk Alert

Filing on Jerk Alert takes about ten seconds and does not replace contacting the authorities. Pick the plate and state, choose the location from the list, tap one of 25 categories, and set a severity from 1 to 5. There is nothing to type, so a report is a fact pattern rather than an account.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Jerk Alert is a record, not an emergency service, and the Terms prohibit following, approaching, or identifying another driver.

What an Erk Score means

An Erk Score is a plate’s running rating from 0.0 to 5.0, computed from the reports filed against it and weighted by whether the reporter is verified. Endorsements from other drivers are counted on the report itself and do not change the score. Deleted and hidden reports are excluded, so a score only reflects reports currently standing.

A plate with no reports has no score.

Other plates