Drunk driving deaths in Wisconsin outpace national average

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --- Wisconsin may be known for its drinking culture, but in some cases, it leads to reckless behavior behind the wheel.

Data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation shows nearly 23,000 OWI convictions in Wisconsin in 2022.

Leaders from the city all the way to the national level are working to keep streets safer.

Friday, is the first day of a two-week project on the east side, installing protected bike lanes.

"This was in response to a lot of pressure for more bike and pedestrian safety in the area," said District 3 Alderman Jonathan Brostoff.           

As reckless driving remains an issue on Milwaukee streets, leaders are working towards solutions.

"We were invited to join the Milwaukee County DOT. They have formed a pack of different organizations to work on traffic safety and MADD has joined this," said Erin Payton with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization working to keep streets safe from reckless and impaired driving. Drunk driving is a problem statewide.

"One third of traffic fatalities in Wisconsin in 2021 were attributed to alcohol or impairment," said Payton.

Wisconsin's stats outpace the national average.

One way MADD is hoping to make a change is by getting Wisconsin leaders to join the national driver license compact.

"45 states are part of the driver license compact so 5 are not and Wisconsin is one of those states and this is a system that allows states to talk to one another when there has been a DUI or OWI," said Payton.

This system links driving records across state lines. If you are a citizen of Wisconsin and you are in Louisiana on vacation or Colorado or California and you get pulled over for drunk driving, right now that is not part of the driver license compact," she said.

In this case, the drunk driving violation would not show up on your Wisconsin driving record.

"What has happened in couple of cases, because I do oversee Illinois too is that someone has gotten an OWI OR DUI in a different state and they have not gotten their license revoked and then they've gone on and killed someone in a crash," said Payton.

Payton says MADD will continue calling on Wisconsin leaders to join the compact. Until then...they will keep advocating for safety.