MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office has been implementing a new reckless driving initiative. The plan targets hot spots and goes after the driving behavior that causes the most crashes on the freeway. In some cases, that means not using a turn signal.
Inspector Doug Holton says unlike city streets, the bad driving behaviors you might consider minor can be a big deal on the freeways because drivers are going at such a high rate of speed.
"We considered it reckless driving behavior. So cutting vehicles off, not utilizing your signal, extreme speeds, inattentive driving,” said Holton.
The sheriff's office found 60 percent of all crashes that occur on the freeways happen between the Marquette Interchange and Capitol Drive on I-43 going north, as well as between the Marquette Interchange and the Zoo Interchange along I-94 east and west. Those areas also make up what the sheriff's office considers its hot spots and deputies are now targeting those areas.
"The Marquette Interchange...has a disproportionate high concentration of side swipe or side impact crashes. And what is indicative of that is people not using their turn signals to change lanes,” said Inspector Brian Barkow of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
So how big of a deal is a turn signal? According to the sheriff's office, a driver is three times more likely to be in a crash on the Marquette Interchange by not using one.
When it comes to the other hot spot, I-94, the sheriff’s office says a majority of crashes there tend to be rear-end collisions. Barkow finds those most often come from inattentive driving and aggressive driving.
"They will get very aggressive with changing lanes or they will almost force another driver out of their lane because they want to get into that lane to take an exit ramp. And the reason we focus on that behavior is that is the behavior which is a precursor to road rage and shooting incidents that we are seeing on the freeways,” said Barkow.
The sheriff's office believes the new approach of targeting hot spots and bad driving behavior is working. In the last 21 days crashes are down in the hot spots, including a 50-percent reduction in personal injury crashes and 27-percent reduction in property damage crashes.
While inspectors say deputies will continue to look for people violating the law, they encourage all drivers to be vigilant.
"Be careful, slow down, make sure you are using your signals, don't follow vehicles too close, just be aware of your surroundings and be very careful, we are out there,” said Holton.
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