Number
040889
Version
SUBSTITUTE 2
Reference
Sponsor
ALD. ZIELINSKI
Title
Substitute resolution directing the Budget and Policy Division - Department of Administration to seek introduction and passage of state legislation to increase forfeitures relating to speeding.
Analysis
This resolution directs the Budget and Policy Division - Department of Administration to seek introduction and passage of state legislation which would amend state law to establish that forfeitures assessed for traffic violations relating to exceeding the posted speed limit by 10 or more miles per hour on any street within cities of the first class shall be doubled.
Body
Whereas, Speeding increases the distance needed to stop vehicles, and increases the distance vehicles travel while drivers react to dangerous situations; and
Whereas, The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Safety reports that approximately 60 pedestrians are killed each year in Wisconsin, and more than 1,600 suffer injuries; and
Whereas, An examination of the pedestrian fatalities in Wisconsin over the past 15 years indicates that the rate of fatalities has not improved much over this period of time; and
Whereas, In the first 6 months of 2004, 9 pedestrians have been killed in Milwaukee, which means that over one-third of the pedestrians killed in Wisconsin have died on the streets of Milwaukee; and
Whereas, Pedestrians involved in crashes that happen at low speeds of 25 miles per hour and below have an 89% survivability rate, while at speeds of 35 miles per hour and higher, pedestrians involved in crashes have an 11% survivability rate; and
Whereas, Children between the ages of 5 and 9 and adults over 75 years old are especially vulnerable to these crashes, as children age 14 years and younger were involved in 37.5% of all pedestrian crashes in Wisconsin between 1994 and 1998, and pedestrians ages 75 and older show the highest rate of fatalities; and
Whereas, In Wisconsin, driving faster than the legal speed limit in designated work and school zones is punishable with the doubling of forfeitures; and
Whereas, Given the higher density of people living in cities of the first class, increasing penalties for speeding on streets in those cities would serve as an additional deterrent to aid in the prevention of crashes and the saving of lives; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the Budget and Policy Division - Department of Administration is directed to seek introduction and passage of state legislation which would amend state law to establish that forfeitures assessed for traffic violations relating to exceeding the posted speed limit by 10 or more miles per hour on any street within cities of the first class shall be doubled.
Drafter
LRB04417-3
RGP
1/25/05