21 vehicles towed in 20 days; Milwaukee County's effort to crackdown on reckless driving

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A new Wisconsin law in effect is helping Milwaukee County crackdown on reckless driving.

"These vehicles are being used as weapons," said Milwaukee Ald. Lamont Westmoreland.

Alderman Westmoreland says Capitol Drive is the most dangerous road in the state. With a portion of the road in his district, he introduced the resolution which went into effect November 5th.

"What we can do now is we can impound vehicles, regardless of vehicle ownership and regardless of if it's your first offense or second offense," said Ald. Westmoreland.

Just 20 days after its launch, Westmoreland says 21 cars were impounded. He says that is already more cars towed through the old law, which only allowed police to tow cars if the driver owned the vehicle and was a repeat offender.

"You hear all 'oh these are all stolen vehicles'," said Ald. Westmoreland. "All 21 of those vehicles were not stolen vehicles. Those were all people that were driving registered vehicles, that own them."

Once a car is towed, it can be a heavy cost for the driver. There is a $150 tow minimum, $25 dollar per day storage, relocation fees and more. It's in hopes to make the driver think twice behind the wheel.

"You can't just go you know pay the towing fee to get it out," said Ald. Westmoreland. "You have to pay towing fees, you have to pay storage fees and any outstanding citation you have in relation to that incident or any other incidents."

Drivers say reckless driving is an issue they face often, and say they feel the initiative is necessary.

"I'm glad that they are going to try and get people for something like reckless driving, which isn’t a victimless crime," said Jack Connors, a Milwaukee resident.