MILWAUKEE — Several dozen people gathered at a rally for safe driving in Milwaukee Thursday night.
Groups of young people marched up and down Capitol Drive calling for drivers to slow down.
"I don’t want to be fearful, like fear for my life out on the roads, but that's what it feels like," said 15-year-old Mia Moore. "You don't know when, at any given moment, something could just happen."
Moore will soon get her driver's license, and she admitted Milwaukee streets make her nervous. She spoke out at Thursday's rally.
There was food, music and resources. Community groups, church leaders, police and aldermen turned out. Alderman Michael Murphy is the chair of the City-County Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force, and he said he wants young people to help spread the message of driving safely.
Dozens of young people signed a pledge to drive safely on Milwaukee streets.
"We care about you, we love you, we think you are the most important resource for our city," said Murphy. "And we want to make sure you have a long, long life."
According to a statement from Murphy, there were more than 16,000 crashes in Milwaukee, and about a quarter of them left someone hurt. It states the main causes of the crashes included behaviors such as failure to yield, speeding, and disregard for traffic controls.
Over the past week, Murphy said eight people were killed in traffic-related accidents, including two 16-year-olds.
One of them was Enisha Hughes-White's friend.
"So I've gone through a lot of deaths," Hughes-White said. "A lot of deaths with friends in shootings, and friends with drownings, and stuff like that, so it's hard to process. I just take time."
She said she doesn't know what the solution is, but she does know it's not that simple.
"It’s kind of hard making it in Milwaukee because, it's like, there's a lot of opportunities for you, but some kids don’t have the chance to grab the opportunity when it's knocking at the door," Hughes-White said. "And some people, they make that mistake and slip."
