MILWAUKEE — As TMJ4 News launches a new series called Project: Drive Safer, the team wanted to try and compare Milwaukee's reckless driving issues to issues in similarly sized cities. While digging through data and interviewing sources, we learned making a comparison is easier said than done.
Milwaukee monitors crash and speed data, along with the number of traffic citations police issue, as key indicators when trying to wrap their minds around reckless driving issues, according to Alderman Michael Murphy.
Murphy has been part of the fight to make Milwaukee's streets safer for years. He served as chair of the City-County Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force in 2020.
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- A 360 Look At Whether Tickets Have Decreased Reckless Driving In Milwaukee
TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins went to City Hall to speak to him about the issues on the roads. Murphy said you have to be careful when measuring data related to reckless driving because the issue doesn't look the same in every city.
"They categorize it differently and some cities don't have the problem that we're experiencing so it wasn't easy looking around for best practices around the country," Murphy said.
In Milwaukee, from crash and speed data to the number of citations given out by police, leaders are paying close attention to the numbers.
"I think we're looking at the right statistics," said Murphy.
In Milwaukee, through Sept. 18, police issued 9,345 traffic citations this year, mostly to drivers who were caught speeding.
Let's compare that number to the numbers from two similarly sized cities. For this report, we compared Milwaukee's population of 569,330 to Kansas City (population: 508,394) and Las Vegas (population: 646,790).
We used the most recent data available in each police department. In Kansas City, police data through the end of July shows 34,039 citations issued. In Las Vegas, police data shows 62,102 citations issued through the first of September.
Both cities recorded far more citations than Milwaukee so far this year. Both cities also had a higher number of crashes and speeding violations recorded. But, that does not necessarily mean they have a bigger problem than Milwaukee.
Nick Jarmusz with AAA explains that while comparing Milwaukee's issues to similarly sized cities can be interesting, it likely won't unveil anything groundbreaking.
"Really in some ways trying to drill down and compare how is Milwaukee doing to other similarly sized cities, not that it's not a necessary or a worthwhile endeavor, but just understanding that this is a nationwide problem," Jarmusz said.
What AAA Research can solidify is that reckless driving is on the rise from coast to coast, especially in urban areas, but that solutions must be brought forth on a city-by-city basis.
"Certainly, the solutions to address (reckless driving) have to be implemented at the local level," he said.
Alderman Murphy points out that there are positive changes happening in Milwaukee. He points to projects, such as traffic calming measures at key Milwaukee intersections, as proof. Specifically, he touts success with the 27th Street Rapid Implementation project and the road diet along Dr. MLK Jr. Drive between Juneau and Locust.
"In certain areas where we've put in traffic calming measures, where we've literally narrowed the street, we have seen in some cases significant reduction in crashes up to 65% and in some cases 40% reduction in speeding. So, that's showing it's really having the impact that you expected - a positive impact," Murphy said.
So, while it can be difficult to compare the issue of reckless driving in Milwaukee to that in other cities, the understanding of the data used to track the issue at home is helpful as TMJ4 News takes a deep dive into the issue with Project: Drive Safer.
