MILWAUKEE — In her first T.V. Interview since being sworn in last week, Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Sky Capriolo is reaffirming her commitment to looking at data and making decisions to combat reckless driving in her district.
Capriolo represents District 15, which includes the intersection near 35th Street and Wisconsin Avenue, where a driver crashed into an MCTS bus on Saturday night.
That crash killed one person and injured nine. It also marked the second deadly crash into an MCTS bus in as many days, after a driver slammed into another bus near 35th and Capitol on Friday morning. That driver died and left seven others injured.
TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins invited Capriolo to the bus stop at that intersection for a conversation following that crash.
First though, Jenkins met people who live and work in the area and who make up District 15.
"They drive like other people don't have lives to live out here. Like it's a whole bunch of pedestrians out here, college students, high school students. They drive like we don't have lives," said Dionna Addison, who lives just down the block.
She and others like MCTS rider Tatiana Toliver say drivers in the area are often reckless.
"It's just been real crazy on 35th. Besides the bus crashes, it's been cars flipped over there. It's a lot of stuff going on over there, people just need to slow down," Toliver said.
As traffic calming measures pop up around the area, these neighbors say 35th Street is an area worth investing in.
"I would like to see some type of improvement on those streets that are left out," said Addison.
Rashaun Harris lives in the area too.
"On this street in particular it's just really bad with the driving," he said. "I've realized that a majority of the problem is that we don't put people in front of our own selfish acts and stuff so we're running late and you want to be speeding and you want to be cutting through traffic but that's dangerous."
"I really feel like we have a reasonable expectation to get in our car or get on county transit and go from point A to point B safely," said Supervisor Capriolo. "And I feel like that expectation is crumbling."
TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins: "How do you now look at your priorities and make sure that your needs are met in terms of reckless driving here in District 15?"
Capriolo: "Now that I am in this position, I will definitely take a deep dive into all of the data that we have at the county and at the city because this is really going to be a collaborative effort to solve this."
Capriolo said the county continues to look at plans that aim to curb reckless driving, including plans for traffic-calming construction projects. But, she also said at the end of the day, community accountability will be key to seeing a difference out on the roads.
"Really a huge part of it is going to be holding ourselves accountable for when we get out here on these roads that we're going the speed limit, that we're not drinking and driving, we're not under the influence of drugs, we're not texting," she said.
Neighbors in the community say this weekend's crash is a harsh reminder that it's also not only up to the drivers to keep ourselves and our streets safe.
"Be careful who you get in the car with. Make sure if they are intoxicated or been drinking, just tell them not to drive or take over the wheel or slow down and be cautious of everyone else in the street," said Toliver.
During TMJ4 News at 10 on Sunday, Ryan Jenkins sat down with a safe driving advocate who shared additional perspective in the aftermath of the crash. You can watch that story by clicking HERE.
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