'People are dying every single day on our roads': Milwaukee Co. unveils phase 2 of Motor Vehicle Collision Dashboard
MILWAUKEE (CBS58) -- Deadly motor vehicle crashes are up more than 30% from 2018 to 2023 -- that's according to the new Motor Vehicle Collision Dashboard.
On Tuesday, Milwaukee County unveiled phase two of its three-part plan to help identify high-risk areas around the city.
At the intersection of 60th and Hampton, 22-year-old Gerrold Wellinger was killed in a reckless driving crash.
Since that day in August of 2021, his sister says this area has become a hotspot for crashes.
"There's been at least four-to-five accidents at that exact intersection," said Mariah Johnson.
After her brother's death, Johnson is now an advocate for safe driving.
"People are dying every single day on our roads, and it's getting to the point that I think our city is becoming numb," said Johnson.
On Tuesday, Milwaukee County released phase two of the Motor Vehicle Collision Dashboard.
"With this new phase, we can pinpoint high-risk areas with greater accuracy," said Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County chief health policy advisor.
High-risk areas like Fond du Lac Avenue and Water Street.
"It's about making sure we are investing in those areas that we see the biggest needs in and making sure we can reduce these fatal crashes and eliminate these collisions we are seeing," said David Crowley, Milwaukee County executive.
Since 2018, there have been a total of 187,000 crashes in Milwaukee County.
Nearly every street in Milwaukee has a color-coded dot indicating where a crash has occurred.
"Motor vehicle collisions are a leading cause of death in Milwaukee County and across this nation. Many, if not all of these collisions are preventable," Crowley explained.
Johnson says if this data and proper policies were in place five years ago, her life would look a lot different.
"If there was a turning signal, my brother could still be here," said Johnson.
Milwaukee County plans to use this data to create policy recommendations and safeguards in hotspot areas to reduce the risk of future crashes.
View the dashboard here.