MILWAUKEE — A growing number of deadly crashes involve a distracted driver in Wisconsin. Even more people end up hurt by one in an accident. However, a new study says even if you are not worried about an injury, getting caught being a distracted driver is likely to hit your wallet even harder than a speeding ticket.
Hang out on one of Milwaukee’s most dangerous intersections for crashes, Capitol Drive and Fond Du Lac, and it isn’t long before you see people driving by on their phones.
“It only takes a second then, there goes one, there goes one,” says Arthur King.
He has lived in Milwaukee his whole life and has worked for the past three years at Capitol and Fond du Lac at the Ace Hardware. He stopped by to tell TMJ4 News just how bad it was when he saw we were out counting distracted drivers.
“And they are looking down, not up,” said King.
Standing at the light, on average, reporter Rebecca Klopf counted five out of 20 drivers, or 25 percent of drivers, on their phones.
King is so worried about getting hit while driving to work he won’t even come into the intersection.
“I go the back way, take the scenic route,” says King.
QuoteWizard.com, a subsidiary of Lending Tree, did a study on distracted driving. Analyst Rob Bhatt categorized distracted driving as either texting or using a cell phone while driving. They looked at states with the highest percentage of fatal crashes involving distracted driving and Wisconsin ranks 21st.
“The national trends are showing that distracted driving has been on the rise over the last years going back to 2017,” said Bhatt. “It seems like Wisconsin is just following the national trends. Seven percent of fatal accidents that occurred over a five-year period involved a distracted driver.”
According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, it is not illegal to talk and drive on a cell phone unless you are in a construction zone. However, texting and driving is illegal and could cost you more than a ticket.
“Insurance companies charge folks with a distracted driving violation on average, 27 percent more for car insurance than with the clean record. Just for comparison, a speeding ticket only raises your rates by 26 percent. So some of this data shows that getting busted for driving while distracted, could actually raise your rates higher,” said Bhatt.
King says drivers in Milwaukee need to be watching the roads, not their phones.
“You can’t be safe by doing both,” says King.
In addition to deadly accidents, analysts say 10 percent of crashes involved an injury happens with a distracted driver.
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