State Lawmakers Seek to Increase Penalties for Reckless Driving

Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 -- 11:01 AM

(Raymond Neupert, WRN) Lawmakers want to increase the penalties for people who drive recklessly.

Lawmakers want to increase the penalties for people who drive recklessly. State Representative Bob Donovan says the two proposed bills will double the penalties against repeat reckless drivers, and make it easier to charge them. "I think that is the important message that needs to be sent to the individuals involved in this behavior, that we will no longer tolerate it."

The bills also make it easier to impound the cars of people who have been caught driving recklessly. The bills have the approval of Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and other community leaders. 

Repeat reckless drivers is a major issue for Milwaukee, which has seen massive increases in the number of violent crashes over the past decade. This is mayor Cavalier Johnson, "Anytime a local government has the opportunity to have more tools at their disposal to address a situation on the ground that we deal with at the local level, the stronger position we'll be in to actually find some resolution to those problems."

Mayor Johnson says the people of Milwaukee want to put an end to the rise in reckless driving. "This is a serious quality of life issue that we've been tackling for the last several years in the City of Milwaukee, and these additional tools will put us in the position to be able to attack it even further."

The bills got their first hearings in committee on Tuesday.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.