MILWAUKEE — People who walk in the city face a challenge when it comes to crossing the street when people are driving recklessly. But it is even more difficult when the pedestrian is someone with a disability.
Raquella Freeman lives and works in downtown Milwaukee. She is a graduate student at Marquette and a research fellow at Independence First, a non-profit that helps people with disabilities live independently. She has been in a wheelchair since birth. She doesn't drive so Freeman uses buses to get around the city and often has to cross busy streets to get to those stops.
According to Wisconsin law, divers must "Yield to pedestrians who have started crossing at an intersection or crosswalk on a walk or green light.”
"People just assume you can keep on rolling,” said Freeman.
If it is a crosswalk, it does not have to be marked or have a stop sign or stop light for the law to apply. So when Freeman enters the intersection that crosses North Avenue from Commerce Street, all the vehicles should stop to allow her to cross. However, this is what we saw when we got to the intersection: almost no one stopped. Freeman waited two minutes before she could dart out into the intersection.
"I call it playing frogger. When I cross that street I say it is okay, get to the middle and hope that you made it there,” said Freeman.
According to Independence First, 20 percent of the population in Milwaukee has some sort of disability. And five percent of the people in the city have a physical disability.
Which is why the president and CEO of Independence First, Marci Boucher, says it is important drivers stop for people in the crosswalk.
"If you were deaf you might not be able to hear somebody coming. If you were blind you wouldn't be able to see a car that was speeding down the road. Or it might take longer to get across the road if you are using a walker or a cane or pushing a wheelchair,” said Boucher.
She says people who speed, drive through crosswalks or just overall drive recklessly make it hard for people who have disabilities to live on their own.
"If someone wants to live independently in the community it is imperative that the streets and the sidewalks are safe for them to go on,” said Boucher.
Freeman says six years ago when she moved to Milwaukee, she was afraid to go too far from her neighborhood because of how people drove. But today, she refuses to let reckless drivers stop her.
“I’ll cross whatever street that I have to - to have the job that I want and the career that I want. I am not going to let issues with people driving stop me from having the life that I want to live,” said Freeman.
She is advocating for more crosswalks like this outside city hall that are not only clearly marked, but also light up. She says in her experience that extra alert slows down drivers.
