Will Milwaukee’s New Towing Law Slow the City’s Reckless Driving Crisis?

A new bipartisan bill passed through the state Legislature allows cars used in reckless driving incidents to be towed on the first offense. Vehicles can be impounded after the driver is arrested or issued a citation.

If fines are not paid after 90 days, the vehicle will be destroyed. The fee to get a car off the tow lot starts at $150, with daily $25 storage fees added on top.

The new law comes as reckless driving has been a plague in the streets of Milwaukee for decades.

According to Wisconsin Policy Forum, Milwaukee saw a 113% increase in car crash fatalities from 2002 to 2022.

According to the Milwaukee County Motor Vehicle Collision Dashboard, the city has had more than 13,000 car crashes this year alone, with 46 deaths.

Attempts to Combat The Problem

Lawmakers have introduced several ideas to address the city’s surging crash numbers and reckless driving. In 2023, the city added concrete bump-outs to curb “baselining.”

The bump-outs make streets narrower, slow down traffic and shorten crossing distances for pedestrians.

A bill introduced in October would allow five traffic-control cameras in each of Milwaukee’s 15 aldermanic districts, for a total of 75 cameras.

The cameras would ticket speeders and red-light runners. States such as Illinois and Iowa have implemented them in major cities.

Milwaukee’s reckless driving problem has pushed lawmakers to become stricter. If the towing law does not deter drivers, even stricter measures could follow.

When someone drives recklessly, everyone nearby, children, seniors or any other driver are put at risk.

According to Milwaukee’s Traffic Violence Dashboard, 74 people died and about 5,500 were injured in car crashes in 2024.

Car crashes affect people physically, financially and mentally. Survivors are often left with PTSD, the cost of replacing a vehicle, or injuries that linger for a lifetime.

The Impact of Reckless Driving

Moses Neuville was hit by a drunk driver four years ago on the South 35th Street Bridge.

“I was coming back from a high school basketball game, and we got hit by a drunk driver head-on on a Tuesday night,” Neuville said. “It was pretty scary because it was my first car accident. You don’t know what’s hurt at that moment because the adrenaline’s going.”

“I broke my two front teeth, fractured my wrists and fractured some bones in my knees,” he said. “I had to relearn how to run and jump for a little while, but that was all from the accident.”

Neuville has recovered from the crash but stays alert when driving through busy parts of Milwaukee. He now works as a barber at Hollywood Cuts.

The new towing law could be the key to curbing reckless driving.

On July 20, two 22-year-old women, Chloe Handrich and Sam Zganjar, were seriously injured when a driver plowed through wooden barricades and struck them on Water Street near Marquette University.

Handrich suffered a shattered pelvis, shattered tibia, collapsed lung and a severe concussion.

Zganjar suffered a broken hand, a gash in the back of her head that required 12 stitches and the loss of her top five teeth.

The driver was cited for failure to yield, a registration violation and having no insurance, but no criminal charges were filed. According to WISN 12, the woman drove away after police finished their investigation.

Under the new bipartisan bill, the driver’s car would have been impounded.

Public Perception

Some Milwaukee residents have mixed feelings about the new measures.

Ayianna Tucker, 22, was born and raised in Milwaukee. She believes the towing law and traffic cameras are necessary but says the concrete slabs meant to prevent baselining have not been worth the trouble.

“I think once it starts happening, the regular drivers will start taking it more seriously, and the streets in Milwaukee will become a little bit safer than what it is now,” Tucker said.

“It would be a great idea to install traffic cameras,” she said. “I think it could reduce a lot of car crashes by providing proof of what happened and holding dangerous drivers accountable.”

“They haven’t helped at all,” Tucker said of the bump-outs. “I feel like they’re just in the way, those big speed bumps in the middle of the street. I don’t think they’re going to stop any reckless driving. If someone crashes into it, it could be a really bad crash. I don’t think that was a good idea at all.”

Milwaukee’s reckless driving problem has made the city’s roads dangerous for years, and it will not disappear overnight. City leaders hope the towing law, along with future measures, can help lessen the problem so they can focus on other issues affecting residents.