MILWAUKEE — Sitting in an empty cafeteria, four students at St. Thomas More High School look more like they should be discussing what color prom dress they should wear for an upcoming dance. But their conversations are much heavier.
They all range in age from sophomores to seniors at the high school and three of the four have been in at least one car crash already in their young lives.
“I was probably two or three,” Kayla Kurtz, a sophomore said. “My dad was driving and someone was trying to cross over to the other side of the road. They expected my dad to slow down and let them through, but my dad did not and they ran into us.”
Now, just over 10 years later, students like Kayla are thought to be the problem when it comes to reckless driving.
“We’re being blamed for reckless driving,” junior Mia Rucka said. “From my perspective, at least when I’m on the road, I’m so hyperactive of what’s going on around me out of the fear that I might hit someone. Compared to like my grandma or mom, they’re not as aware of what’s going on in the road. They drive over without turning on their blinkers or do rolling stops or something like that. Just adults in general. I don’t want to be the person blamed for reckless driving when it’s not just me.”
Rucka’s sentiment bares out in the statistics. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) stats, only 1.9 percent of licensed drivers in the state are under 18.
Moreover, the average age of drivers who are ticketed for driving offenses is much older than these four girls.
The most common driving offense is speeding, by far. Since 2017 in the City of Milwaukee, the average age of speeders in Milwaukee is 31.5 years old. Those who blow through red lights are 32.8 years old. Even for inattentive or distracted drivers, the average age is 33.8 years old. Reckless driving citations skew a little younger at an average of 26.7 years old.
That’s much older than the students at St. Thomas More. By the time they reach that age, some of them may have been on the road driving in some capacity for the same amount of time they spent in school.
“I think a lot of the times we’re blamed as the problem,” junior Alli Bontempo said. “We’re easy to point fingers at. We just got our license, we don’t have as much experience as other people. But a lot of time, people don’t want to look inwards at themselves and say, oh maybe I am part of the problem.”
Bontempo’s message is one she’s trying to convey to the entire student body at St. Thomas More as the president of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). It’s a group that started in 1999 when senior Jennifer Ramus was killed by a drunk driver. The man responsible was 41 years old, much older than Bontempo or her classmates. Yet, it’s students like this that fear getting behind the wheel because if something bad happens, they think the fingers will be pointed right at them regardless of the situation.
“My biggest fear is that I’m going to get hit by somebody who was using something or not doing the right thing and then I get blamed for it,” Rucka said.
That’s not to say younger drivers should skirt blame for their driving. Bontempo and her group advocate for safer driving with everyone they interact with at the school. Even recently, Rucka had to speak up when she was nervous in the front seat of a friend’s car.
“She decided to go 30 over the speed limit down Kinnickinnic,” Rucka said. “I was like, you are going way too fast. You need to slow down.”
Rucka says her friend brushed her off initially. It wasn’t a big deal, it was only this one time she was speeding were just a couple of the explanations the friend gave to Rucka. But she was steadfast, this behavior wasn’t right.
“I told her, I wasn’t comfortable getting in a car with her again if she was going to do that,” Rucka said. “Then, I think she realized that I was genuinely being serious.”
“I think the best way we can connect is by sharing our stories,” Bontempo said. “They all have stories of firsthand [incidents]. When you talk to other people, I think it really helps them to realize how serious this problem is.”
Reckless driving was declared a public health crisis by the City of Milwaukee in 2021. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner reported 107 deaths related to motor vehicle crashes in 2020, the highest amount since at least 2017. There were decreases in 2021 (88) and 2022 (86). But as of May 17, the Milwaukee Police Department shows there have been more motor vehicle fatalities this year (27) than at the same point in 2022 (22) and 2021 (23).
“I think any life lost because of driving is the biggest fear in the world,” junior Alejandra Anderson said. “It’s difficult to want to get on the road every day.”
Sharing their experiences, they say, is critical towards changing the narrative. The narrative is that teen drivers are the problem. The narrative of reckless driving being acceptable.
“We need to stop brushing it under the rug,” Kurtz said. “A lot of times, you won’t hear about these accidents and stuff or parents will even hide it form their kids to try to make that so that they’re not worried. But we need to be exposing people to this earlier so that they’re aware of it.”
“If we were at the table talking with adults about reckless driving, we could add a perspective,” Rucka said. “It’s scary driving around other adults who aren’t taking it as seriously as we are.”
“It feels like you’re talking into an empty void,” Anderson said. “You hear adults complain all day long about how kids are driving. Then you have kids complaining about how everybody else is driving. It’s like we’re just yelling at each other instead of coming up with solutions. We’re just creating more problems.”
From the conversation, it would appear these students have an unwavering optimism about making real change. But when faced with a prediction about the future of reckless driving in the city, all four feel in 10 years it’s going to be worse than it is today. It’s a foundation-shaking realization for these students who are too young to vote. Despite their best efforts, they all think the problem is going to get worse.
And yet, they trudge on.
“I hope it’s better,” Bontempo said. “But I think people just want to put the problem off. We have to hope that the right person hears our voices and hope that we hit home with somebody because even if you change one person, that’s better than nobody.”
“Especially if it’s a parent that has kids starting to drive,” Kurtz said. “That one parent might go tell a friend of theirs that has kids too. Then it just keeps getting spread and spread and they’ll hopefully talk to their kids about it so that they’re aware too.”
“Even when we’re out of high school and are in college and not a part of this SADD group anymore, we can advocate for safer driving,” Anderson said. “Through social media or going to parties with our friends, stressing the importance of not driving if you’re under the influence or waiting until the next day to get an Uber. Just making those positive decisions. If you reach the right person, then you can reach a million people. We’re telling our stories and hopes that we can reach the right people.”
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