Milwaukee Public Safety and Health Committee Meeting Clarifies New Reckless Driving Penalties

The Milwaukee Public Safety and Health Committee, responsible for developing policies to protect health and safety, met on Oct. 3 to clarify new initiatives aimed at curbing reckless driving, particularly targeting repeat offenders.

This meeting followed an Oct. 1 press conference where the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), the City Attorney’s Office and the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office introduced these initiatives.

“The inspiration for us initially was the state’s new law, which deleted the look-back window for reckless driving citations,” said Milwaukee City Attorney Evan Goyke at the Public Safety and Health Committee meeting. “Now, any subsequent offense, regardless of time elapsed, will result in criminal penalties.”

Milwaukee officials built on Wisconsin’s Act 9 to enforce stricter penalties for reckless driving.

Key changes and penalties included eliminating the time limit for considering past offenses, increasing fines and prosecuting repeat offenders in municipal court.

“We’re no longer making deals on reckless driving citations,” said Goyke at the Public Safety and Health Committee meeting. “The forfeiture for a citation is $898, and it’s a six-point violation, one of the most serious driving offences.”

Reckless Driving: What it Means Legally

During the Public Safety and Health Committee meeting, officials discussed how to define reckless driving and the legal elements that differentiate it from speeding.

“Reckless driving requires a risk of death or great bodily harm and that risk must be real and substantial,” said Alex Miller, the assistant city attorney. “For a conviction, we need to prove three elements: the defendant operated a vehicle on a highway, their operation created an unreasonable risk of harm and this criminal negligence endangered the safety of a person or property.”

Consequences of Unpaid Citations

The meeting also touched on unpaid tickets.

“If you don’t pay that first reckless driving citation, it’s still a conviction,” said Heather Hough, Milwaukee Police Department’s Chief of Staff, at the Public Safety and Health Committee meeting. “So don’t think you can avoid a second offence by not showing up to court.”

Evan Goyke reiterated that non-payment does not prevent conviction and individuals will still face enhanced penalties for any future reckless driving offenses.

Additionally, officials discussed how the law applies to juvenile offenses.

“For driving offenses, juveniles 16 and younger are treated as adults in municipal court,” said Goyke during the Public Safety and Health Committee Meeting. “However, there are more rehabilitative safeguards in the system for juveniles compared to adults.”

Some local drivers remain unsure about Milwaukee’s new policy aimed at curbing reckless driving.

“I don’t have a problem with increasing any penalties, but as far as I know, maybe it wouldn’t do anything,” said Samuel Vernon, a commuter attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

A young driver in Milwaukee shared a mix of skepticism and support for the city’s new reckless driving policy.

“I think a lot of reckless driving is done by people with stolen vehicles who don’t care to have clean records,” said Bernardo Flores, a Milwaukee resident. “Will it help, obviously, but it won’t eliminate [the issue].” 

He expressed support for the stricter penalties, adding, “I like it because it enforces people to follow the law; maybe the previous policy was too lenient, so people didn’t care about it and didn’t fear the consequences.”