Wisconsin Statutes

Wis. Stat. § 346.51 (2026)

Stopping, standing or parking outside of business or residence districts

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section WI-LEGdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
346.51346.51Stopping, standing or parking outside of business or residence districts.
346.51(1)(1)No person shall park, stop or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the roadway of any highway outside a business or residence district when it is practical to park, stop or leave such vehicle standing off the roadway, but even the parking, stopping or standing of a vehicle off the roadway of such highway is unlawful unless the following requirements are met:
346.51(1)(a)(a) An unobstructed width of at least 15 feet upon the roadway of such highway must be left opposite such standing vehicle for the free passage of other vehicles. This section shall not apply to a school bus when the school bus is loading or unloading pupils or other authorized passengers where flashing red warning lights are used as required by s. 346.48 (2).
346.51(1)(b)(b) Such standing vehicle must be capable of being seen by operators of other vehicles from a distance of 500 feet in each direction along such highway.
346.51(2)(2)This section also applies to vehicles or equipment used in highway maintenance or construction work unless the nature of the work is such as to require the stopping or standing of the vehicle or equipment on the roadway.
346.51 HistoryHistory: 1987 a. 125; 2013 a. 96.
346.51 AnnotationThe graded, but unfinished, bed of a highway lane under construction is not a “roadway” under s. 340.01 (54). Burg v. Cincinnati Casualty Insurance Co., 2002 WI 76, 254 Wis. 2d 36, 645 N.W.2d 880, 00-3258.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases, 1960–2020 · leading case: Burg Ex Rel. Weichert v. Cincinnati Cas. Ins., 2002 WI 76 (Wis. 2002).
Burg Ex Rel. Weichert v. Cincinnati Cas. Ins., 2002 WI 76 (Wis. 2002). · cites it 30× “09 , which requires head and tail lamps to be illuminated when a snowmobile is operated at night, and Wis. Stat. § 346.51 , which prohibits the parking, standing, or stopping of any vehicle upon a roadway.”
Burg Ex Rel. Weichert v. Cincinnati Cas. Ins., 2001 WI App 241 (Wis. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 7× “§ 346.51, in relevant part, provides: (1) No person shall park, stop or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the roadway * of any highway .”
Nelson v. Travelers Ins., 259 N.W.2d 48 (Wis. 1977). · cites it 3× “The “rule of the road,” insofar as it applies here, is contained in sec. 346.51, Stats., and is as follows: “Stopping, standing or parking outside of business or residence districts.”
Billingsley v. Zickert, 240 N.W.2d 375 (Wis. 1976). · cites it 3× “The fact that a statute compelling parking off the roadway was not in force here because of its defined scope certainly did not preclude the jury, who visited the scene, from determining that Zickert was negligent in parking to any extent on the roadway in view of the hour, the…”
State v. Antonio D. Brown, 2014 WI 69 (Wis. 2014). · cites it 2× “33 (1)(e) (requires officers to determine whether a driver making a U-turn on a curve or crest can be seen by another driver approaching from 500 feet); § 346.51(1)(b) (requires officers to determine if a standing vehicle can be seen by operators of other vehicles from a…”
Milwaukee & Suburban Transp. Corp. v. Royal Transit Co., 139 N.W.2d 595 (Wis. 1966). · cites it 2× “The trial judge correctly stated that sec. 346.51, Stats. 1959, is a safety statute and its violation constitutes negligence.”
MacK v. Decker, 128 N.W.2d 455 (Wis. 1964). · cites it 2× “3 Our review of the evidence discloses sufficient proof that it did occur outside of both a business district and a residence district. *227 Therefore, we conclude that this court cannot hold that there was no credible evidence to support the jury’s finding that Taft was…”
Totsky v. Riteway Bus Serv., Inc., 584 N.W.2d 188 (Wis. Ct. App. 1998). “2d 595, 597 (1966) (court finding that § 346.51, STATS., governing stopping, standing or parking outside of busi *901 ness or residence districts is a safety statute).”
City of Madison v. McManus, 171 N.W.2d 426 (Wis. 1969). “56 Penalty for violating sections 346.51 to 356.55. “(1) Any person violating s.”
Kanios v. Frederick, 103 N.W.2d 114 (Wis. 1960). “Frederick to pass; such stopping was not a violation of sec. 346.51, Stats., and in any event did not cause Mrs.”
State v. Frederick S. Smith (Wis. 2018). · cites it 2× “For example, Gonzalez could have issued a ticket to Smith under Wis. Stat. § 346.51 for stopping his car "upon the roadway.”
Vill. of Chenequa v. Jill Dahlquist (Wis. Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 2× “§§ 346.51 through 346.56] inclusive. CHENEQUA, WIS.”
— Wis. Stat. § 346.51(1) — 1 case
Nelson v. Travelers Ins., 259 N.W.2d 48 (Wis. 1977). “The “rule of the road,” insofar as it applies here, is contained in sec. 346.51, Stats., and is as follows: “Stopping, standing or parking outside of business or residence districts.”
— Wis. Stat. § 346.51(1)(b) — 1 case
State v. Antonio D. Brown, 2014 WI 69 (Wis. 2014). “33 (1)(e) (requires officers to determine whether a driver making a U-turn on a curve or crest can be seen by another driver approaching from 500 feet); § 346.51(1)(b) (requires officers to determine if a standing vehicle can be seen by operators of other vehicles from a…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.