MILWAUKEE — TMJ4 is launching a new initiative to address one of Milwaukee’s most dangerous problems, reckless driving.
Project: Drive Safer will provide all sorts of stories over the next year focusing on education, enforcement, and the engineering of roads.
We start with an in-depth explanation of what reckless driving is and the consequences for those who are caught.
- MORE COVERAGE: PROJECT: DRIVE SAFER
- Introducing 'Project: Drive Safer'
- TMJ4, Community Effort Aims To 'Move The Needle' On Reckless Driving
- Comparing Milwaukee's Reckless Driving Issues To Similarly-Sized Cities
- These Streets In Milwaukee Are The 'Most Reckless'
- A 360 Look At Whether Tickets Have Decreased Reckless Driving In Milwaukee
Wisconsin’s reckless driving law is fairly broad. It says, “No person may endanger the safety of any person or property by the negligent operation of a vehicle."
There isn’t a definitive list of driving behaviors that can result in a reckless driving citation, but police say instances can be found on Milwaukee’s streets every day.
Excessive speeding, tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, street racing, and running red lights all come to mind for Celia Jackson.
“Anything that creates a dangerous situation could be characterized as reckless driving,” she said.
Jackson is an executive with the Coalition for Safe Driving MKE, a group of community members and organizations whose frustrations with reckless driving turned into advocacy for safer roads.
TMJ4 asked Jackson what she thinks is the most dangerous form of reckless driving.
“I really think speeding is the most dangerous thing. At the core of so much reckless driving, whether you’re looking at the fleeing, whether you’re looking at the drag racing, whether you’re looking at the speeding over 25 or even lesser amounts, it’s all speeding," she said.
Milwaukee Police Captain Jeffrey Sunn offered a different answer.
“I would say definitely the running of red lights,” he said. "Traffic signals are put at intersections, busy intersections, to serve a purpose, not only to regulate traffic but also to keep cross traffic safe. When individuals are flying through these intersections at red lights at very high speeds, you might hit a family member in another car that has the green light just because you’re in a hurry to get somewhere a minute faster. It’s not worth it.”
Milwaukee police say a person’s first reckless driving violation in the city comes with a $313 fine. A repeated offense within four years can land the driver in jail for up to a year. The consequences get more severe when reckless driving causes serious injury or death because it turns into a felony charge.
Captain Sunn says police data shows Milwaukee’s reckless driving problem hit its peak at the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly 400 drivers were cited with reckless driving by this time of the year in 2020, which is about 100 more than the amount issued this year to date.
“Fatal accidents were up. We were seeing very bad accidents, very bad reckless driving, individuals just traveling straight through traffic signals, and the community got fed up with it,” Captain Sunn said.
Captain Sunn says the Milwaukee Police Department responded by launching the Traffic Safety Unit in February of 2021. It’s a team of approximately 18 patrol officers who are dedicated to catching the most egregious reckless drivers. It’s resulted in a massive spike in the number of drivers cited for excessive speeding.
This May, the department started towing unregistered vehicles used in four different types of reckless driving incidents: endangering safety by driving recklessly, racing on the highway, fleeing an officer, and speeding 25 miles per hour over the posted limit.
“They’re all reckless driving and there are many more incidents that you could describe as reckless driving. The passing on the right in the bike lane, in the curb lane,” Jackson said. “For all practical purposes, operating under the influence is reckless driving.”
