Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 895.448

  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Person: includes all partnerships, associations and bodies politic or corporate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
   (1)    In this section:
      (a)    “Farm equipment” means a tractor or other machine used in the business of farming.
      (b)    “Safety device” means a guard, shield or other part that has the purpose of preventing injury to humans.
   (2)   If a person in the business of selling or repairing farm equipment fabricates a safety device and installs the safety device on used farm equipment, after determining either that the farm equipment was not originally equipped with such a safety device or that a replacement is not available from the original manufacturer or from a manufacturer of replacements, and notifies the owner or purchaser of the farm equipment that the person fabricated the safety device, the person is not liable for claims founded in tort for damages arising from the safety device unless the claimant proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a cause of the claimant’s harm was the failure to use reasonable care with respect to the design, fabrication, inspection, condition or installation of, or warnings relating to, the safety device.