Wis JI-Civil 1285

A safety statute provides that no person shall drive a vehicle at a speed greater than is

reasonable and prudent under existing conditions and having regard for actual and potential

hazards. This statute requires that a driver in hazardous circumstances use ordinary care to

regulate the vehicle's rate of speed to avoid colliding with any object, person, vehicle, or

other conveyance on or entering the highway in compliance with legal requirements and

using due care.

The statute also provides that a driver must drive at an appropriate reduced speed

(when approaching and crossing [an intersection] [a railway grade crossing]) (when

approaching and going around a curve) (when approaching a hillcrest) (when traveling upon

any narrow or winding roadway) (when passing [school children] [highway construction or

maintenance workers] [other pedestrians]) (when special hazards exist with regard to other

traffic or by reason of weather or highway conditions).

Appropriate reduced speed means less than the otherwise lawful speed. An

appropriate reduced speed is that speed at which a person of ordinary intelligence and

prudence would drive under the same or similar circumstances.

[Here insert, if appropriate, Wis JI-Civil 1310 Speed: Obstructed

Vision; Wis JI-Civil 1315 Speed: Obstructed Vision Nighttime; Wis

JI-Civil 1320 Speed: Camouflage.]