Preliminary report to be released by Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force

Milwaukee and the surrounding area have experienced too many deaths and injuries at the hands of reckless drivers, underscored by yet another horrific accident last night at 22nd and Center St. “My condolences go out to the family members who experienced a tragedy last night. It is a situation that no one should have to deal with,” said Alderman Michael J. Murphy.

Born out of the uptick in reckless driving and auto-related incidents was the City-County Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force. This 15 member task force began meeting in April in an attempt to tackle a growing public safety issue in Milwaukee. Today, the task force has released its preliminary set of recommendations on how to make Milwaukee’s streets safer for drivers and pedestrians.

The (attached) preliminary report offers an initial set of recommendations to change this behavior from a three-pronged approach: Engineering Solutions, Accountability and Enforcement, and Prevention and Education. With this comprehensive strategy to tackle reckless driving, decision makers can be better equipped to collaborate in a coordinated and comprehensive fashion while working on changing reckless driving behavior. “This report is a key step as we look to identify approaches to curb what has become a wide-spread safety issue,” Alderman Murphy said. “We see firsthand the effects of illegal driving behaviors, whether through our work, the media, or tragedies like what occurred last night. It is my hope that the recommendations of the task force can spark actionable change to combat this issue.”

Alderman Murphy, the primary sponsor of the Common Council legislation creating the task force, said several public listening sessions will be held across the community to gather input before a final plan is adopted. “We want to hear from citizens, stakeholders and anyone who has ideas and input to share. Those public sessions will be scheduled in the near future and a public announcement will be made regarding those details,” he said.

The task force has been working steadily during the past six months to shape the policy recommendations. The body is composed of experts from the Common Council, Mayor’s Office, Health Department, Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney’s Office, Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Milwaukee Municipal Court, the Milwaukee Youth Council, community organizations and the general public.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.