Milwaukee City Wire

Common Ground Wisconsin is poised to do all it can to gain control over the problem of reckless driving across the state.

"I am tired of feeling unsafe when I drive into the streets of Milwaukee," Common Ground Strategy Team member Brenda McMurtry told WTMJ-TV recently. "Cars are being used as weapons. Drag races, hit-and-runs, running red lights, running stop signs, running from police and car theft have become habits for some."

Milwaukee Police Traffic Safety Unit data showed that there were 17,483 traffic crashes, 62 of which involving a fatality, in 2021; the WTMJ report said. So far this year there have been 6,148 traffic crashes, 22 involving a fatality.

With the problem showing little sign of slowing any time soon, Common Ground is now funding a plan to offer affordable driver's education classes for all Milwaukee high school students after the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) system ceased doing so in 2004.

In 2015, MPS moved to reinstate the program, but it is only for students in the district and currently doesn't have enough funding to serve all eligible MPS students.

"We need to give our young people the opportunity to learn safe driving practices," McMurtry said.

Common Ground teamed with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson to send letters to three major auto insurance companies asking them for financial assistance in funding the program for all Milwaukee students, including those at private and charter schools.

A 2016 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee study found that just 34% of African Americans and 33% of Hispanics over 18 in Milwaukee are licensed, compared to 75% of white 18-year-olds, WTMJ said. Common Ground officials stressed that there's more than just safe roads at stake, because not having a driver’s license can make it harder to find a job and to vote.

"For me, access to a car would be life changing," Pathways High School senior Aaliyah Hunt told WTMJ.

If she can’t get a ride, Hunt has to take the bus to school, and that often causes her to be late; she said. In addition, she works a job after school from 4-9 p.m.; and if she can't get a ride from school, she has to leave class early to ensure she gets there on time by bus.

"I tried to get my license, but the cost of a permit is way too much for my family right now," Hunt said. "Help paying for driver's ed would not only help me get a license, but it will help me get to school on time, get to work on time and take care of my family."