Commit To Safe Driving Rally Set For Thursday

A rally in support of safe driving will take place tomorrow – Thursday, June 24, and will feature Alderman Michael J. Murphy, Common Council President Cavalier Johnson, the Milwaukee Police Traffic Safety Unit, as well as several groups committed to reducing reckless driving.

The Commit to Safe Driving rally (see attached schedule) will take place from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in the 3900 block of N. 59th St. (between W. Melvina and Capitol Dr.). The free eventwill feature educational picketing, music, and a variety of food trucks.

Reckless Driving is directly impacting the people of Milwaukee, and in recent years, there has been a significant increase in reckless driving behavior and crashes. In 2018, there were more than 16,000 crashes in Milwaukee, and about a quarter of the crashes resulted in injuries. The leading crash causes were reckless driving behaviors, including failure to yield, speeding, and disregard for traffic controls with many of these crashes classified as hit-and-run.

Crashes involving pedestrians were more than two times more frequent than crashes involving buses, motorcyclists, or people biking. Additionally, racial inequities further the disparity for those affected by reckless driving.

Alderman Murphy, chair of the City-County Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force, said the event will allow citizens the opportunity to pledge to commit to driving safely this year as work intensifies to combat the issue of reckless and distracted driving in Milwaukee.

“This rally is meant to bring the effort to curb reckless driving directly to the people, to the community. It’s that important, that urgent,” Alderman Murphy said.

The City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works (DPW) has created a mini grant program for Milwaukee non-profit and community-based organizations to execute programs or messaging aimed at reducing reckless driving in the City. Mini grant awards are available from $1,000 up to $5,000, with a total distribution amount up to $100,000. The grant program seeks to reduce reckless driving behavior and decrease the number of resulting traffic crashes by creating safer streets, fostering community involvement, and building awareness around the dangers and impacts of reckless driving.

Many groups expected to be present at Thursday’s rally were awarded funding through DPW’s Reckless Driving Mini-Grant program. All were made possible through Ald. Murphy’s budget amendment that allocated a special fund of $110,000 for a public information campaign to combat reckless driving.

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.